Matimba power plant
| Matimba power plant | |||
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| location | |||
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| Coordinates | 23 ° 40 '6 " S , 27 ° 36' 38" E | ||
| country |
 South Africa
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| Data | |||
| Type | Steam power plant | ||
| Primary energy | Fossil energy | ||
| fuel | coal | ||
| power | 3990 MW | ||
| operator | Eskom | ||
| Start of operations | 1981 | ||
| Energy fed in 2014 | 24,000 GWh | ||
The Matimba power plant is a coal-fired power plant operated by the state-owned South African energy supplier Eskom with an installed capacity of just under 4 GW in the Limpopo province . The word Matimba stands for achievement in the Bantu language Xitsonga spoken in this region . The power plant consists of a total of six blocks with an electrical output of 665 MW each. The coal required for operation is primarily extracted from the nearby Grootegeluk opencast mine in the Waterberg coal mining area . On average, around 1660 tons of coal per hour are burned in the power plant, at maximum output the coal consumption is around 2100 tons of coal per hour. The coal is transported from the open pit mine to the power plant by means of a 7 km long belt conveyor .
The Matimba power plant is the world's largest coal-fired power plant in terms of output, which is operated exclusively with air cooling . This technically not optimal operating condition is due to the lack of sufficient cooling water in the region. In addition to the scarcity of water, the air in the region is polluted with pollutants due to the power plant, which has insufficient flue gas cleaning . With around 24 million tons of CO 2 per year, the power plant is the second largest carbon dioxide emitter in South Africa after the Kendal power plant .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Matimba Power Station. Eskom, accessed February 26, 2015 .
- ↑ Grootegeluk. Exxaro, archived from the original on February 23, 2007 ; Retrieved September 25, 2012 .
- ^ Township life next to an Eskom power station. Retrieved February 26, 2015 .