Eskom is looking to undertake structural repair works on the six coal silos at Tutuka power station after a comprehensive inspection found structural defects and material degradation in the silos.Tutuka, which has an installed capacity of 3,600 megawatts, is one of the power stations that were granted a five-year exemption from minimum emission standards (MES) last year, allowing it to continue operating under relaxed pollution limits until April 1 2030.Eskom, in a tender document, said a comprehensive inspection and condition assessment showed a range of structural defects that needed to be repaired. “These include extensive internal and external concrete deterioration, failure of previous repair interventions, damage to stainless steel hopper liners, and exposure of corroded reinforcement. These issues pose a risk to the structural reliability and operational safety of the silos,” the document reads.The scope of work covers general and silo-specific repair requirements, including concrete remediation, crack sealing, protective coatings, and hopper liner replacement.Coal at the station, which was constructed in the 1980s, is conveyed to storage areas and removed by one of the three stacker reclaimers or is fed directly to the station. At the station, coal is stored in six 4,500-tonne-capacity silos, each of which serves two boilers. Eskom said on Friday it did not rule out pursuing criminal charges against people found to have circumvented its diesel procurement and storage contractsAt the height of debilitating load-shedding in 2023, Tutuka was one of Eskom’s worst-performing power stations.At the time, the minister of electricity & energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa identified the main problems at Tutuka as a “revolving door” of managers, severe maintenance backlogs, and criminal activity/sabotage.The station has since significantly improved its performance, playing a key role in keeping the lights on, which Eskom has managed to do for more than 300 consecutive days.The proper maintenance of coal silos is critical for ensuring operational efficiency, safety and environmental compliance in power plants and mining operations. As key infrastructure in the coal supply chain, properly maintained silos: prevent operational downtime;protect coal quality; and reduce the risk of hazardous incidents such as fires or structural failures.Meanwhile, Eskom said on Friday it did not rule out pursuing criminal charges against people found to have circumvented its diesel procurement and storage contracts.This relates to a probe launched by the power producer, which accounts for more than 80% of South Africa’s electricity supply, into the supply of diesel to its open-cycle gas turbine power stations, which support system reliability during emergencies, particularly at peak demand and during periods of high breakdowns.We will seek to recover every rand of financial loss while relentlessly executing our action plans to address historical misconduct, reinforce governance and embed ethical conduct at every level. The board’s commitment to this is absolute and will not waver— Mteto Nyati, Eskom board chair The utility said the interim report had identified instances of non-adherence to Eskom processes in the procurement of services and management of the contract. “As a result of the findings, Eskom will commence with disciplinary proceedings against several employees who breached our procurement processes. We expect that more employees may be charged once the final report has been issued to Eskom,” the entity said.Eskom spent billions of rand procuring diesel at the height of load-shedding to avoid a system collapse. This spending has since been slashed by R26.9bn in the past three years.Eskom board chair Mteto Nyati said disciplinary action would be taken against suppliers who breached its procurement policy and processes. “Consequence management is immediate, uncompromising and non-negotiable. Those implicated, whether employees or suppliers, will be held accountable through disciplinary action and, where warranted, criminal processes,” he said. “We will seek to recover every rand of financial loss while relentlessly executing our action plans to address historical misconduct, reinforce governance, and embed ethical conduct at every level. The board’s commitment to this is absolute and will not waver.”Nyati’s uncompromising stance on graft was backed by group CEO Dan Marokane. “The vast majority of Eskom’s employees are honest and hard-working, and we will not allow a few to tarnish the majority’s reputation,” Marokane said. “The ongoing resourcing drive to adequately capacitate the finance, internal audit and forensics functions to address key skills gaps within the business continues to attract talent to Eskom. We’re applying the same effort to ending years of governance and accountability failings as we did to ending load-shedding by continuously strengthening our controls as the landscape evolves.”