Tiny town with only 1,200 residents that has been keeping South Africa’s lights on for over 70 years
The tiny town of Ogies in Mpumalanga is a hidden coal powerhouse, supplying the world’s largest indirect dry-cooled coal-fired power station.
Originally developed around a train station in the 1920s, today, Ogies supplies coal to Eskom’s Kendal and Kusile Power Stations, anchoring the national electricity grid.
Ogies was established in 1928 on the Oogiesfontein farm, built around a vital railway junction on the Springs-to-Witbank line.
The name of the farm on which Ogies was built translates to ‘fountain with many eyes’, and the town was originally called ‘Oogies’, though the name was changed in 1939.
It is located in the West of Mpumalanga, about 29 km south-west of Witbank and 70 km north-east of Springs.
This means Ogies is strategically located, as the Springs-to-Witbank line connects to the Port of Richards Bay, a critical global trade gateway in South Africa.
According to South Africa’s 2011 census, Ogies had a population of only 1,230 people, consisting of 352 households.
Mpumalanga Tourism explained that while Ogies is not a typical tourist town, there are still several landmarks to see, including its two churches.
“A typical mining town, Ogies represents the industry that dominates this region and has drawn people from far afield to the Cultural Heartlands,” it said.
Despite its miniature size, Ogies is an economic powerhouse in South Africa, having served a critical role in South Africa’s fuel and electricity supply for decades.
In 1996, the Mail & Guardian reported that Ogies was once home to the Strategic Fuel Fund’s (SFF) massive underground storage facility, with abandoned mines in the town used to store millions of barrels of oil.
The Apartheid government bought four mines in the Ogies area in the 1960s and onwards, and converted them into the world’s largest oil storage operation at the time.
The storage facilities in Ogies, alongside its sister-tanks in Saldanha Bay, ensured that South Africa had an 18-month supply of oil.
However, following intensive commercial coal mining and blasting in the area, the storage facilities in Ogies were decommissioned and are no longer operational.
Today, Ogies’ strategic importance lies in its abundant coal, which it supplies to at least two of Eskom’s power stations.
Keeping the lights on
Coal from Ogies began supplying Eskom in 1954, at the same time that the utility commissioned its Wilge Power Station.
Wilge was located on the Witbank coalfields and was built specifically in Ogies to meet surging energy demand and kick-start large-scale power generation in the region.
While Wilge’s location in Ogies ensures a plentiful supply of coal for the region, the size of the station had to be restricted to 240 MW because of limitations on the water supply.
Eskom explained that, while it was difficult to justify a power station this small, the urgency of power demand in the region outweighed the demand for economy at the time.
However, this cost could not be justified for long, and Wilge Power Station was decommissioned in 1995 after being closed in 1990 due to obsolescence.
Eskom said the shuttering of Wilge did not have a big impact on Witbank, but Ogies was not as lucky. It said the town was slightly affected by the downsizing of the station, which had already started in the 1970s.
However, Ogies did not suffer for long, as the town was still supported by its coal mines and the farming community.
In addition, Eskom would soon commission two huge new power stations in and near Ogies – Kendal and Kriel.
When Kriel was completed in 1979, it was the largest coal-fired power station in the Southern Hemisphere. It is located between the towns of Kriel and Ogies in Mpumalanga.
Kendal, which was completed a few years later in 1993, was and still is the world’s largest indirect dry-cooled power station. It is located about 40 km south-west of Witbank in Mpumalanga.
Today, Ogies supplies thermal coal to both Kriel and Kendal, sitting at the centre of South Africa’s largest electricity-producing region.
Mines located in and around the town of Ogies supply millions of tons of thermal coal to these power stations.
One notable mine in the area is the state-owned African Exploration Mining and Finance Corporation’s Vlakfontein mine.
Located near Ogies on the Kendal off-ramp, just 8 km away from Kendal Power Station, this mine employs a total of 300 people, including contractors.
The mine currently delivers less than 1 million tons of coal to Eskom every year. At full capacity, it can deliver well over 2 million tonnes.
Billlionaire Patrice Motsepe’s mining giant, African Rainbow Minerals, also has its Goedgevonden coal mine in the area.
Photos of Ogies and Eskom power stations
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