Energy expert, Chris Yelland says there could be more reasons that led to the explosion at Eskom Medupi power station in Limpopo on Sunday night.
The power utility says preliminary investigations show that employees who were at work at the time of the incident deviated from the procedure.
Two operators and four managers have so far been suspended. Eskom says air was introduced into the generator to try to find a leak, while a large quantity of hydrogen gas was still present in the system.
Yelland says the risk of load-shedding cannot be ruled out.
“What appears to have happened before they open the generator instead of purging fully with carbon dioxide, they allowed air to get into the generator, which mixes the hydrogen causing an explosive mixture that ignited and really blew up the generator doing extensive damage to this extent. This generator is irreparable. If you follow the right procedure the probability of an accident is very very low. It could be just poor training, inexperienced, incompetence.”
Eskom suspends staff over Medupi blast: Sikonathi Mantshantsha
