Former Eskom chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer has quit and will leave the state-owned utility at the end of the month.

In a tersely worded statement on Monday evening, Eskom said it had parted ways with Oberholzer “by mutual agreement”.

Oberholzer’s surprise exit comes just two months after he signed a fixed-term contract – reportedly for a period of 24 months – to oversee key projects aimed at reducing load shedding, including overseeing a life-extension overhaul at the Koeberg nuclear power station.

The departure of Oberholzer comes after electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa reportedly said that he was “very, very worried” about delays in refurbishments of the steam generators at Koeberg, which could result in higher stages of load shedding for far longer than had been hoped.

In its statement on Monday about Oberholzer’s exit, Eskom said it “expresses gratitude … for his dedicated service, expertise and valuable contributions during his tenure”. It also wished him well “in his future endeavours”.