Karen Breytenbach, who oversaw the expansion of South Africa’s privately owned renewable energy projects, said she was asked to vacate her job about nine months before her contract expires.
Browsing: Eskom
Eskom has advertised for a new CEO two months after Phakamani Hadebe announced he’d vacate the post.
South Africa will ramp up support for its ailing state-owned power utility Eskom with an additional R59-billion spread over two years.
Of all the executives, government officials and consultants being recruited to tackle the mammoth task of rescuing South Africa’s state power utility, the toughest task could fall to the person who has to take it apart.
South Africa’s indebted power utility Eskom was already searching for a CEO and an executive to lead a turnaround of the company. It will now have to cast its net even wider to include a treasurer.
While Nedbank CEO Mike Brown is optimistic, the government will have to make hard decisions, with the burden ultimately falling on the South African public to shoulder the bill.
Eskom has only managed to meet peak demand with its own fleet on 49 of the 106 days between the most recent instance of load shedding on 23 March, and 7 July.
Eskom said pollution reduction equipment at its biggest operational plant hasn’t been working properly since early last year.
A proposal by the biggest owner of Eskom’s debt to convert its R88-billion holding into equity has become a rescue option as South Africa seeks to restructure the troubled power utility.
South Africa’s troubled state-owned power utility has yet another thing to worry about – a big carbon tax bill expected to kick in from 2023.