Athlone Power Station was situated on the N2 freeway into the city, consisted of a large brick generation building, two 99m brick chimneys, and two cooling towers, fed by reclaimed water from a nearby sewage plant. It was commissioned in 1962 with 6 turbines with a nominal capacity of 180 megawatts, and operated by the City of Cape Town.[2] Between 1985 and 1994 the station was held on standby, but it resumed generating in 1995 with a reduced capacity of 120 MW. Between 1995 and 2003 it was mainly used to generate power in peak demand periods and during power failures of the national grid.[2] In 2003, significant investment was required due to the age of the power station, and generation was stopped.[3]
Decommissioning
Athlone was the last coal-fired power station operating in Cape Town; the others, in the city centre and Salt River, were demolished in the 1980s and 1990s. The cost of transport means that coal costs three to five times more in Cape Town than it does near the mines inland, making it more economical to transmit power from there to Cape Town than to generate power in Cape Town from transported coal.[4]
The lifespan of the station's two cooling towers had been extended in 1993 through the addition of reinforcing bands, but on 14 February 2010, the bands on one tower collapsed, leading the city to announce that the towers would be demolished by the end of April 2010 to prevent their collapse;[5][6] the demolition was postponed to 22 August 2010 when they were finally demolished.[7]
The power station building and two 99m high chimneys are still standing while the city decides on the future of the site.
Image of the Power Station before the demolition of the cooling towers. The reinforcing bands on the right tower failed, necessitating the demolition of both towers on 22 August 2010.
^. 2009-11-02. Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2010-02-14.
^ ab"City of Cape Town to Privatize the Athlone Power Station". 2002.
^Steenkamp, Willem (2006-09-09). "Power station could be reborn as a cultural hub". Cape Argus.
^. Eskom. Archived from the original on 2011-10-05.
^"Athlone Towers to be demolished - report". IOL. 2010-02-14.
^Wagiet, Rafiq (2010-02-14). . Eyewitness News. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2010-02-14.
^"Athlone towers to bite dust soon". IOL. 15 July 2010.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Athlone Power Station.
January 20, 2023
athlone, power, station, coal, fired, power, station, athlone, cape, town, south, africa, site, stopped, generating, power, 2003, process, being, decommissioned, aerial, view, power, station, after, demolition, cooling, towers, countrysouth, africalocationkewt. Athlone Power Station was a coal fired power station in Athlone Cape Town South Africa The site stopped generating power in 2003 and is in the process of being decommissioned 1 Athlone Power StationAerial view of the Power Station after the demolition of the cooling towers CountrySouth AfricaLocationKewtown Athlone Cape TownCoordinates33 56 56 S 18 30 49 E 33 94889 S 18 51361 E 33 94889 18 51361 Coordinates 33 56 56 S 18 30 49 E 33 94889 S 18 51361 E 33 94889 18 51361StatusDecommissionedCommission date1962Decommission date2003Owner s City of Cape TownThermal power stationPrimary fuelCoalTurbine technologySteam turbineCooling sourceReclaimed sewagePower generationUnits operational6Nameplate capacity180 MWExternal linksCommonsRelated media on Commons edit on Wikidata Athlone Power Station was situated on the N2 freeway into the city consisted of a large brick generation building two 99m brick chimneys and two cooling towers fed by reclaimed water from a nearby sewage plant It was commissioned in 1962 with 6 turbines with a nominal capacity of 180 megawatts and operated by the City of Cape Town 2 Between 1985 and 1994 the station was held on standby but it resumed generating in 1995 with a reduced capacity of 120 MW Between 1995 and 2003 it was mainly used to generate power in peak demand periods and during power failures of the national grid 2 In 2003 significant investment was required due to the age of the power station and generation was stopped 3 Decommissioning EditAthlone was the last coal fired power station operating in Cape Town the others in the city centre and Salt River were demolished in the 1980s and 1990s The cost of transport means that coal costs three to five times more in Cape Town than it does near the mines inland making it more economical to transmit power from there to Cape Town than to generate power in Cape Town from transported coal 4 The lifespan of the station s two cooling towers had been extended in 1993 through the addition of reinforcing bands but on 14 February 2010 the bands on one tower collapsed leading the city to announce that the towers would be demolished by the end of April 2010 to prevent their collapse 5 6 the demolition was postponed to 22 August 2010 when they were finally demolished 7 The power station building and two 99m high chimneys are still standing while the city decides on the future of the site Image of the Power Station before the demolition of the cooling towers The reinforcing bands on the right tower failed necessitating the demolition of both towers on 22 August 2010 Demolition of the cooling towersSee also Edit South Africa portal Energy portalList of power stations in South AfricaReferences Edit Study on future of Athlone Power Station site progressing well 2009 11 02 Archived from the original on 2011 07 27 Retrieved 2010 02 14 a b City of Cape Town to Privatize the Athlone Power Station 2002 Steenkamp Willem 2006 09 09 Power station could be reborn as a cultural hub Cape Argus Salt River Power Station Eskom Archived from the original on 2011 10 05 Athlone Towers to be demolished report IOL 2010 02 14 Wagiet Rafiq 2010 02 14 Athlone towers to be demolished by April Eyewitness News Archived from the original on 2011 07 22 Retrieved 2010 02 14 Athlone towers to bite dust soon IOL 15 July 2010 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Athlone Power Station Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Athlone Power Station amp oldid 1062024468, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
