The story behind the famous Klein Brak River abandoned power station

Posted by David Henning on 24 May 2022

Situated just outside of Klein Brak River on the Garden Route is an old abandoned power station that might have caught your eye as you sped past.

This abandoned building has since been conquered by lush trees growing through what was once a roof that makes you wonder what’s inside, and what it used to be. We did some digging.

According to UCT, the reason for closing down this power station was that the engineers situated the power station on the banks of the river so that the water could be used for cooling, but they did not consider that river is a tidal one.

The water was therefore salty, and corrosion to the materials occurred, leading to the station being decommissioned, and the machinery moved. The large pools surrounding the station were said to be used by locals as warm swimming pools. The building was never demolished, and nature took its course.

Today, the power station is surrounded by a township aptly named Powertown. Drone Fanatics shared share some of the images they took from above.

 

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