Medupi fires up first gas burner: Eskom

The Medupi power station's unit six fired up its first gas burner this week, Eskom said on Thursday.

"The firing-up of the gas burner supports the ignition of oil combustion for the first oil fire," the parastatal said in a statement.

"This activity follows on from the filling of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank with liquefied petroleum gas and the safety clearance of the distribution piping from the LPG tank to the LPG burner skids."

The burner was fired up on Monday.

Parliament's public enterprises and energy portfolio committees visited the site on Monday to assess progress made since the last visit.

"Positive feedback was received from the committees and this demonstrated appreciation for the progress achieved at Medupi given the magnitude of the project," Eskom said.

The Medupi coal-fired power station, the first power station to be built by Eskom in 20 years, is being constructed near Lephalale in Limpopo.

Unit six of the new power station, which has faced numerous construction delays, is expected to be synchronised at midday on December 24.

Synchronisation, or first power, involves the generator being electrically connected to the power grid, so that its power is aligned with all the other generators to generate and deliver electricity into the grid.

It would take several months for the unit to reach full and stable power.