In early February 2023, the Lowveld, along with the majority of the summer rainfall regions in the country, suffered the heaviest flooding in many years. Some residents along the Crocodile River, upstream of Nelspruit, experienced the worst flooding in 38 years.
The flood levels were not as severe as the flooding experienced in 2000 (12 000m3/s vs 5 000m3/s at Komatipoort), but for the stretch between the Komati Sugar mill and Komatipoort, the river rose to a level 100mm below that of the 2000 floods.
The full force of the flood within the Lowveld was felt along all the major rivers in the area, which includes the Sabie River, Crocodile River, Nkomati River and the Mlumati River. The Lomati hydroelectric power plant, situated about 3km downstream of Driekoppies dam, was only one of the many structures that became submerged within the early hours of Thursday morning the 9th of February 2023.
Incessant early morning downpours in the mountains surrounding Kaalrug, aided by an already spilling dam, gave no warning for any possible preventative actions. Some places in the immediate catchment received more than 350mm of rain. For the next few days, we hoped and prayed that the canal feeding the power plant and various irrigation pump stations, would not succumb to the deluge.
After four days it was possible to enter the power plant and move around without the use of a boat. Only then could we establish whether the turbines were still turning while submerged and commence the process of drying, removing and repairing the affected machines.
As depicted by the images below, the ongoing storms and continuous heavy rains made the recovery of the equipment impossible by truck. An excavator was eventually used to move the machines from the plant to a suitable loading site where it was collected by truck.
The interruption of power generation provided an opportunity to move the transformer, which had been the target of numerous cable theft incidents, to a more secure position, inside the building.
A few days later the machines came back from repairs and were reinstalled, aligned, connected and tested carefully before the first test runs were completed in mid-April.
We are grateful to be back in production at a time when green energy and power supply continuity are in such demand. We are looking forward to the high-demand season, which could be very productive with the prospect of a full dam supplying ample water to users as it makes its way through the hydropower plant.