André de Ruyter, the CEO of South Africa’s debt-stricken state power utility, is navigating a political minefield as he collects overdue debt, reduces electricity theft and bolsters revenue.
Browsing: Andre de Ruyter
Efforts to address Eskom’s R450-billion debt burden have taken a back seat to the government’s focus on fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
Eskom expects only three days of stage-1 power cuts, where up to 1GW is taken off the national grid, during the winter period when demand increases, the CEO said on Wednesday.
Eskom has made “key” progress in restructuring the operations of the business, with the power utility committed to meeting the “ambitious” unbundling target date of 2021.
Eskom CEO André de Ruyter said on Thursday the state power utility could become financially viable and do without government bailouts if it could more than halve its debt to R200-billion.
Eskom has told investors it doesn’t currently need to approach the government for more support, even as a Covid-19-related national shutdown slashes revenue.
Eskom warned that its maintenance plan must be supported by the government or South Africa can expect regular blackouts from power cuts of 8GW by mid-2021, a move that would cripple the economy.
South Africa’s Energy War Room, a grouping of the main cabinet ministers responsible for the power industry, will meet for the first time this week since being reconstituted by President Cyril Ramaphosa in December.
Eskom’s new boss has taken a first step to reduce the indebted South African power utility’s bloated wage bill while avoiding a potential clash with labour unions.
Transnet is working with Eskom to reduce the ailing power utility’s costs by increasing the supply of coal delivered by rail and improving the quality and reliability of the primary feedstock for its thermal plants.