Alstom in 100m Eskom deal for power station control system

FRENCH power group Alstom yesterday said that it had signed a 100m contract to supply an instrumentation and control system for Eskom’s Medupi power station in Limpopo.

The 4800MW power station is an integral part of SA’s solution to the power supply shortage it faces. The station is due for commissioning in 2012.

The contract follows Eskom’s confirmation that it was not entering new contracts for the Kusile power station in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga. Eskom said last week that it had put new contracts on hold until there was clarity on its application for a 45% tariff hike in each of the next three years. Even with that increase, Eskom would still have a R30bn shortfall on its funding requirements.

Medupi and Kusile are two of the biggest items in Eskom’s R385bn capital expansion programme. Alstom, which has won several contracts with Eskom, said it had given the utility an option, worth another 100m, to install a system at the Kusile plant.

Alstom said, in terms of the contract, it would engineer, supply and install a distributed control system and the ALSPA series 6, an open information technology platform that reduces running costs. The control system would allow for monitoring of the plant’s critical equipment.

Alstom Power president Phillippe Joubert said the control system was the first major product resulting from the company’s collaboration with Microsoft.

The retrofit will increase the station’s power output by more than 65MW, improve availability and reliability, as well as extend the life of the plant.

njobenis@bdfm.co.za