Koeberg unit 2 shuts down

2011-09-05 19:24

Cape Town - Unit 2 of Eskom's Koeberg power station shut down on Monday, in what the power utility said was an automated safety procedure.

"The automatic shutdown was triggered by the protection system on a motor due either to mechanical or instrumentation failure, but the unit is in a safe and stable condition" Eskom said in a statement.

It said it is investigating the cause of the fault.

Eskom stressed that the shutdown of the unit was unrelated to the oil spill at Bloubergstrand, where the Seli 1, a Turkish vessel that ran aground in September 2009 and which started breaking up on Friday night, leaked crude oil into the ocean.

There was no interruption of electricity supply as a result of the shutdown, and Koeberg Unit 1 remains fully operational, the utility said.

- News24