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Browsing: Eskom
The former acting CEO of South Africa’s state power utility blamed its crippling levels of debt on excessive costs incurred in building new plants and denied that it could be attributed to corruption.
Eskom has warned that there is a high risk of load shedding on Monday.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the financial and operational challenges faced by power utility Eskom are not caused by the independent power producer programme.
Massive areas of South Africa’s largest city were hit by power outages on Friday afternoon after a power line from state-owned utility Eskom tripped during planned maintenance.
Energy regulator Nersa has allowed Eskom to raise prices by less than what the embattled company estimates it needs, keeping pressure on its balance sheet while also adding to inflation strains.
With South Africa’s state electricity utility in dire financial straits and straining to meet demand, the government has reverted to courting independent renewable energy producers to help power the economy.
South Africa plans to expand use of renewable power as the coal-dependent nation expects traditional, centralised generation plants to “disappear”, energy minister Jeff Radebe said.
South Africa plans to cut the state wage bill over the next three years to keep spending under control as the economy flags and it bails out the struggling state power utility.
The sorry state of South Africa’s state power utility starkly illustrates just how far the country slipped during former President Jacob Zuma’s scandal-marred rule and the enormity of the task of rebuilding the nation’s stricken finances.