Transformer explosion at Eskom’s Matla power station leaves nine employees injured

A transformer explosion at Eskom’s Matla Power Station in Mpumalanga has left nine employees injured, one critically, on Thursday.

According to Eskom Group Executive for Generation, Bheki Nxumalo, the explosion, that occurred at 5pm, affected the station’s unit 6.

As a precautionary measure, unit 5 was taken offline to ensure the safety of all employees and contractors on-site. 

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“Our first thoughts are with those who have been injured, and we are ensuring they get the medical attention they need. All emergency protocols have been activated,” said Nxumalo. 

“Our technical teams are on-site assessing the situation and will continue to do so throughout the evening and into tomorrow. The suspension of load shedding remains unchanged. Eskom will issue regular update reports.”

Fire at Eskom’s Kriel Power Station

This is the second incident at a power station in the province in weeks.

On 3 November, unit 6 at Kriel Power Station tripped following the loss of hydraulic oil to the turbine valves at around 5pm.

Eskom’s preliminary investigation revealed that an oil pipe had broken, causing an oil spill on the hot surfaces of the turbine, which triggered a fire.

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The station’s fire and emergency team extinguished and contained the fire. 

“Eskom can confirm no personnel were injured, and all other units at the power station remain fully operational. The standard investigation procedure is now underway to assess the extent of the damage, as well as the time required for repairs and restoration. Eskom will make a further announcement when the results of this investigation are finalised.”

The power station has not provided any updates on this. 

Eskom said incidents such as these do not impact the generating capacity. 

“The ongoing, incremental results of the Generation Recovery Plan have continually added more of a ‘buffer’ to the system to manage incidents such as this. The system has sufficient reserves.”

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