{{Short description|South African coal-fired power station}} {{Infobox power station |name = Colenso Power Station |image = Colenso Power Station.jpg |image_caption = View of Colenso Power Station in the 1970's. |country = South Africa |location = | coordinates = {{coord|28|43|51|S|29|49|36|E|region:ZA-KZ_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |owner = |status = Decommissioned |th_fuel_primary = [[Coal]] |th_combined_cycle = |ps_units_operational= 5 |ps_electrical_capacity= 160 [[Megawatt]] |commissioned = 1926 |decommissioned = 1984 }} {{external media |image1=[http://heritage.eskom.co.za/heritage/annualreports/1936/14_pg%2017_21.pdf Photo of the power station as seen from across the Tugela river] at Eskom Heritage |image2=[http://heritage.eskom.co.za/heritage/annualreports/1927/1927%20Ntlcentralgeneral9to10.pdf Photo of the Colenso turbines and boilers] at Eskom heritage }} '''Colenso Power Station''' was a South African [[coal-fired power station]], located in [[Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal]] ([[Uthukela District Municipality]]) on the banks of the [[Tugela]] River. It was built in the 1920s by the [[South African Railways]] to supply electricity for the railways,<ref>{{cite journal|title=South African Railways Power Plant|journal=[[Electric Railway Journal]]|date=9 December 1922|volume=60|issue=24|page=914|url=https://archive.org/stream/electricrailwayj60mcgrrich#page/914/mode/1up|accessdate=15 September 2010}}</ref> and was subsequently sold to the Electricity Supply Commission ([[Eskom]]).
==History== Steep gradients on the Natal section of South African Railways, particularly in the Natal Midlands meant that electrification could be beneficial, particularly if [[regenerative braking]] was employed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/r025.html|title=SOUTH AFRICAN ELECTRIFICATION|publisher=Mike's Railway History|accessdate=2008-10-28}}</ref> In 1921 the estimated cost of the electrification project, inclusive of the Power Station was {{currency|2033000|GBP}}.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Great Britain and the Colonies|journal=Electric Railway Journal|date=1 January 1921|volume=57|issue=1|page=33|url=https://archive.org/stream/electricrailwayj57mcgrrich#page/n104/mode/1up|accessdate=15 September 2010}}</ref>
Building started in 1921 and the power station was opened in 1926 with a capacity of 60 MW. Initially it only provided power for the 274 km section of the [[Glencoe, KwaZulu-Natal|Glencoe]] – [[Pietermaritzburg]] part of the Durban-Johannesburg railway – the area that had the greatest gradients, and also the area that was closest to the coalfields of the Glencoe region. Power generated at Colenso was distributed at 88,000 volts to twelve substations where it was converted to 6,600 volts and then to 3,000 volts DC current by [[synchronous motor]] generators for use by the railways.<ref name="Brazil-110">{{cite book|last=Brazil|first=H|title=Electrical Substations|publisher=Edward Arnold & Co|year=1928|page=110|chapter=The South African Railways Electrification|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/electricalsubsta017168mbp#page/n115/mode/1up|accessdate=2010-01-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Brazil|first=H|title=Electrical Substations|year=1928|publisher=Edward Arnold and Co|page=110|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/electricalsubsta017168mbp#page/n115/mode/1up|accessdate=15 September 2010|chapter=IX - Traction Substations}}</ref>
The power station was sold to the Electricity Supply Commission ([[Eskom]]) in January 1927.<ref name=EskomColenso>{{cite web|url=http://heritage.eskom.co.za/heritage/annualreports/1927/1927%20Ntlcentralgeneral9to10.pdf|title=Natal Central Undertaking|publisher=[[Eskom]] Heritage|accessdate=11 January 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817200912/http://heritage.eskom.co.za/heritage/annualreports/1927/1927%20Ntlcentralgeneral9to10.pdf|archivedate=17 August 2011}}</ref> It used coal that was brought in by rail from the coalfields of North Natal and water from the Tugela. It continued to be the provider of electrical power for the railways which by 1937 consisted of the whole of the Natal section of the Durban – Johannesburg line (516 route km) and the 229 km spur to [[Bethlehem, Free State|Bethlehem]] in the Orange Free State. Between 1944 and 1959 a series of new generators were commissioned, resulting in the power station's capacity being increased to 160 MW.<ref name=EskomColenso/> However, in the 1960s, changes in technology led to a change in the economics of power production. New power stations such as Ingagane <ref>{{cite web|url=http://heritage.eskom.co.za/heritage/ingagane.htm|title=Ingagane Power Station|publisher=Eskom Heritage|accessdate=2008-11-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903152538/http://heritage.eskom.co.za/heritage/ingagane.htm|archive-date=2010-09-03|url-status=dead}}</ref> were built at the coal fields themselves and the use 400 kVA power lines from 1972 onwards reduced the cost of transporting electricity. In the early 1980s Eskom initiated a major development programme: in 1980 new large power stations at Kriel (3,000 MW), Hendrina (2,000 MW) and Camden (1,600 MW) had been commissioned and in the next few years a number of other new power stations gave South Africa a surplus of generating capacity and many of the 1960s vintage power stations (including Colenso's refurbishment) had become uneconomic.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.gsb.uct.ac.za/files/Eskom-InvestmentUncertainty.pdf |title = Investment and Uncertainty: Historical experience with power sector investment in South Africa and its implications for current challenges |first = Grové |last = Steyn |date = 15 March 2006 |publisher = Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town}}</ref> This meant that the continued use of the Colenso power station was no longer economically viable. The original part of the power station was decommissioned in 1970 and the 1944-1959 extensions in 1985.<ref name=EskomColenso/>
==Present day== The power station's cooling towers remain standing to this day. In recent years a concerted effort has been in process to re-establish a new, larger, independent base load power station near the original site of the old Colenso power station. With a substantial coal resource discovered near the town and with the gradual liberalising of the South African electric power generation industry, a modern coal technology power generation unit is planned.<ref>{{cite journal |title = Colenso Regeneration Plan and Urban Design Framework - Draft Report |date = June 2010 |publisher = Emnambithi Ladysmith Local Municipality |first = Oscar |last = Fumba |at = 6.4 Colenso Power Station }}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|South Africa|Energy}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Power in South Africa |state=expanded}} {{Railway electrification}}
[[Category:Coal-fired power stations in South Africa]] [[Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 1926]] [[Category:Former coal-fired power stations]] [[Category:Former power stations in South Africa]] [[Category:1926 establishments in South Africa]] [[Category:1984 disestablishments in South Africa]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in KwaZulu-Natal]] [[Category:Economy of KwaZulu-Natal]] [[Category:Uthukela District Municipality]] [[Category:20th-century architecture in South Africa]]