Operations at the Camden power station resumed on August 27 after a four-month shutdown to relocate ash from an unsafe dam at the station.
Operations at the station were suspended in April, following the outcome of a review by a professional body which was contracted by power utility Eskom to conduct a risk assessment on the structural integrity of the ash dam.
The contractor concluded that the existing dam had reached its maximum height and, therefore, posed a safety risk to all personnel on site, including neighbouring communities and could also be a cause for environmental contravention if not attended to.
Eskom has moved about 795 000 m3 of ash from the dam, inclusive of 300 000 m3 that is being moved by road to an opencast mine for beneficiation.
To create more space, the second phase of the project will be to excavate 800 000 m3 of ash from the north side of the dam to a mine for beneficiation. This project should be completed by the end of November.
"Unit 8 of [Camden] was today synchronised onto the grid, with Unit 5 expected to return to service tomorrow afternoon.
"Five other units will start returning to service from September 1 to 19. Unit 3 will remain on a major outage for the next three months. This will add a total 1 400 MW to the grid," Eskom said in a statement.