The Eskom manager who brought Majuba back to operation after the silo collapse is replacing Roman Crookes as Medupi’s project director with immediate effect.

Eskom on Monday appointed Phillip Dukashe to replace Crookes to run Medupi power station without a handover from Crookes.

Crookes, who was set to leave at the end of January, will leave with immediate effect, Eskom CEO Brian Molefe told a radio station on Monday.

Dukashe, who has worked at Eskom for 22 years, will now head up Eskom’s critical new build project to introduce 4 800 MW of coal power into the country’s ailing grid.

Majuba’s Mr Fix it

After years of delays, Medupi’s first unit brought 800 MW onto the grid in 2015, while the next unit is set to be completed in early 2017. The overall project is set to be completed between 2019 and 2020.

Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe told Fin24 that Dukashe has been instrumental in bringing Majuba Power Station back to operation, after a silo collapse in 2014 dented its operations.

“He was successful in implementing a short-term solution to feed coal to the power station on a mobile feeder system, while starting the process to rebuild the silo,” said Phasiwe.

Majuba’s silo collapse in November 2014 plunged the country into load shedding after its capacity was eroded from 3 600 MW to 1 400 MW.

To increase the capacity to its original levels, Eskom used over 1 000 trucks to transport coal, but the new system has decreased this to 90 trucks. The new silo is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

Dukashe’s history at Eskom

Dukashe, a civil engineer by profession, has been working for Eskom at various managerial levels, Eskom said in a statement.

From 2010 until now, he was general manager for Generation Coal Projects, which included the major refurbishment of coal fired power stations such as return to service of the Komati, Camden and Grootvlei power stations.

His role also included the recovery of the Majuba silo and Duvha unit 3 projects. Between 2001 and 2005 he was a power station manager for Tutuka power station.

“We want someone to hit the ground running at Medupi,” said Phasiwe. “Eskom plans to either meet or beat the deadlines set for Medupi. This will happen while adhering to all the normal standards and it won’t be done in a hurry.”

– Fin24 (Matthew le Cordeur and Fadia Salie)