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Tuesday, 07 September 2010 19:00 |
Eskom on Tuesday said it was hoping for an answer from government soon on how it should finance a R190 billion funding gap over the next seven years.
Members of Eskom’s board and executive briefed Parliament on the power utility’s annual report.
Board chair Mpho Makwana told MPs that although Eskom has turned a significant corner by posting a R3.6 billion net profit this year, huge challenges remain.
They have warned the next seven years will be tough on both the company and the public as the power grid is expected to come under significant pressure from next year.
Finance Director Paul O’Flaherty said it was not yet clear whether Eskom would apply for bigger government guarantees: “It’s one of the solutions – it’s not the only solution. The others is a recapitalisation of Eskom, and then a hybrid... between recapitalisation and
guarantees,” he said.
Eskom said it would await government’s decision on the funding model.
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Friday, 03 September 2010 12:00 |
Eskom on Friday said problems caused by the upgrading of its prepaid electricity vending system should be resolved within the next week.
Residents of several Cape Town suburbs have not been able to buy electricity online or at vending shops since the last weekend of August.
Their electricity metres reportedly indicated the devices were not registered.
Eskom said the problems were the result of the upgrade.
Spokesperson Athena Makan said they were working on the problem.
“The problem should be sorted out by 13 September 2010. Please note that it is not all our customers that are affected. It is only those customers where we have discrepancies between the two databases,” she said.
Makan said customers could find out where to buy electricity at Eskom customer centres.
“We have a processing place where even though there are data discrepancies customers still are able to [buy electricity]. This list of vendors that will enable vending is available at the moment at our walk-in centres,” she added.
(Edited by Lisa Bartlett)
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Thursday, 02 September 2010 20:00 |
Eskom on Thursday said the upgrading of its prepaid electricity vending system has caused problems for some customers in Cape Town.
Residents of Parklands and several other suburbs have not been able to purchase power online or at shops since the last weekend in August.
Affected consumers’ electricity meters reportedly indicated that the devices had not been registered.
Eskom said the problem emerged when the upgrade started.
Spokesperson Athena Makan said clients were able to purchase electricity at selected outlets.
"Should the customer experience problems they can visit us at any walk-in centre in the peninsula or they can contact us via our contact centre,” she said.
Those experiencing probems can phone the helpline on 08600 ESKOM (08600 375 66)
(Edited by Lisa Bartlett)
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Written by Enviroadmin
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Friday, 27 August 2010 12:50 |
Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System
Date: 26 Aug 2010
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Pretoria - There are no plans to cancel the Kusile Power Station project both the Energy Ministry and Eskom have said.
This comes after media reports allegedly misquoting the Acting Deputy Director General for Electricity, Nuclear and Clean Energy Ompi Aphane as saying the coal powered facility, which is being built in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga, is going to be cancelled.
"The department wishes to state categorically and without equivocation that Kusile Power Station is on the table. There is no viable option that is on the table to replace Kusile. In the absence of Kusile there will not be enough power into the South African electricity grid," the department's spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said on Wednesday.
The 800MW plant is expected to be completed in 2017 and with the assistance of other government departments.
Aphane in his presentation to the South African National Energy Association (Sanea) indicated that the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which outlines what it is that government needs to do to keep the country's lights on, is considering a range of scenarios in order to inform the actual investment plan.
"He further indicated that a distinction has to be made between a scenario and a plan," said the department, adding that media reports had misunderstood the difference.
"One of the scenarios that are being modeled relate to an option where only new coal fired power stations will be built and no renewable energy generation utilized. This, therefore, does not mean that government has made a decision not to build any new renewable energy power stations," said Khumalo.
Eskom said that it was still committed to building Kusile and that it had been in discussions with government to explore various funding options for the project. According to the parastatal, South Africa faces a thin margin between supply and demand over the course of the next ten years particularly in the next three years.
"Eskom is on record saying that in order to plug the gap in electricity supply over the next few years, South Africa needs new base-load power stations like Medupi and Kusile. Funding to complete the Medupi station has recently been approved by the World Bank," said the parastatal.
In April, the World Bank announced it would grant the utility US$3.75 billion loan that will co-finance the 4800 MW Medupi coal-fired power plant in Limpopo as well as the country's first large wind and concentrated power projects.
"We are working hard to resolve the funding issue because there is no viable option to replace Kusile. Without the additional power from Kusile from 2014, there could be constraints on South Africa's economic growth," said Eskom's Finance Director, Paul O'Flaherty.
The ministry says that the IRP will be concluded at the beginning of the fourth quarter. - BuaNews
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Written by Enviroadmin
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Friday, 27 August 2010 12:49 |
Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System
Date: 26 Aug 2010
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Pretoria - Eskom has signed two export credit agency loans that will be used to fund the Ingula Pump Storage scheme and the Medupi power station.
On Wednesday, Eskom said it had concluded a loan worth approximately R1 billion with the Deutsche Bank which will be used to fund 85 percent of the turbine pump contract for the 1 352 MW Ingula Pump Storage scheme.
The scheme is situated on the boundary of KwaZulu-Natal and Free Sate.
The second loan agreement of approximately R600 million arranged by Credit Agricole CIB will be used to fund the 4800 MW Medupi power station construction in Lephalale, Limpopo.
Financial Director Paul O'Flaherty said Eskom is a key contributor to the growth of the South African economy.
"Funding is a critical enabler for the successful execution of the capacity expansion programme and export credit agency backed funding compliments our other sources of funding in the Eskom funding plan," he said. - BuaNews
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Monday, 23 August 2010 14:00 |
Eskom on Monday said it did not foresee any power outages while it carries out maintenance at the Koeberg power station north of Cape Town.
Koeberg’s Unit 1 was shut down for maintenance and refuelling on Sunday night. The work is expected to last for at least two months.
However, Eskom’s Tony Stott said they did not expect any power disruptions.
“This is planned so we have taken into account the demand for electricity… The other maintenance that we do on other power stations is all part of the bigger plan so we are not anticipating any load shedding or any blackouts…” he said.
(Edited by Lisa Bartlett)
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Written by Enviroadmin
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Wednesday, 04 August 2010 11:35 |
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 Source: http://www.businessday.co.za/
THE World Bank has started an investigation into its $3,75bn loan to Eskom after a complaint by two local environmental groups on behalf of the Lephalale community, where the Medupi power station is to be built.
Although the investigation is not expected to affect the granting of the loan, it could influence the way some of the money is spent.
Roberto Lenton, chairman of the World Bank’s inspection panel — the body leading the probe — yesterday said the investigation related to allegations of violations of the bank’s operational policies and procedures.
The inspection panel is an independent body that monitors the bank’s accountability and compliance with its social and environmental policies. It is a forum for parties aggrieved by bank policies and procedures.
Tristen Taylor, Earthlife Africa energy policy officer, yesterday said the Lephalale community was concerned about carbon and sulphur emissions from the 4800MW Medupi power station which the loan will fund.
Mr Lenton recently led a team on an “eligibility” visit to SA to investigate the Lephalale community’s concerns. In a statement to the bank’s board, Mr Lenton said he was “struck” by the level of concern about the project.
The panel decided on an investigation because the complaint by Earthlife Africa and Groundwork “raises issues of compliance and harm that can be addressed in the context of an investigation”.
Mr Lenton said his panel did not have the mandate to question board decisions, indicating that the loan would not be affected.
He said the panel would also not investigate SA and Eskom as the borrower. The panel could, however, make recommendations to the World Bank board “about project implementation, including the disbursement of funds for the project”.
In a statement yesterday, the World Bank office in Pretoria said that previous findings of the inspection panel had been taken into account in improving the design and implementation of projects.
However, the bank’s local officials declined to comment on the investigation. “The inspection panel is beginning its investigation and World Bank staff cannot comment on the specifics of ongoing investigations,” it said.
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Source: http://www.businessday.co.za/
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 04 August 2010 09:43 |
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Written by Enviroadmin
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Wednesday, 04 August 2010 11:08 |
 Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System
Date: 03 Aug 2010
Title: Electricity plan to be released by year end
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Cape Town - South Africa will have a clearer picture on the future of its electricity mix and supply by the end of the year, said the Department of Energy's Ompi Aphane, Acting Deputy Director-General of Electricity, Nuclear and Clean Energy.
Aphane was briefing Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Energy today, on the public comments received by the department on the Second Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).
He said the plan is to promulgate the IRP2 - which will present various scenarios for the country's future energy policy - by November.
Leading up to this, the department plans to next month release a draft of the IRP2 for public comment and public hearings would be held with the National Energy Regulator (Nersa).
The scenarios would be built using 29 parameters including the effects of climate change, water availability, price elasticity of demand, a carbon tax, distributions infrastructure and renewable energy, on the supply of electricity for the country.
The department had received 81 submissions from the public, including from non-governmental organisations, academics and consultants and industry and business, which all made various submissions based on the parameters.
Some of these comments were gathered via www.irp2010.co.za while other inputs were gathered from Nedlac.
A total of 831 specific inputs have been fed into a database and are now being used to build the various scenarios.
Many of the comments were around renewable generation and the IRP2 consultation process itself - with most of the respondents adding that they were impressed with the process itself.
Most of the respondents called for a low carbon economy and for renewable energy - such as wind, solar and geothermal - to make up between 20 percent to 75 percent of the country's electricity mix by 2050.
Many of the respondents were strongly against coal and nuclear as future energy solutions to the country's future and pointed out the difficulty of obtaining funding for nuclear and coal.
They also pointed out the importance for the IRP2 to consider new technologies still emerging, such as solar hydrogen technology and sugar fan fibre as renewable energy source.
Aphane said South Africa faced tough choices around the future of its energy mix, adding that the economy couldn't grow in an energy-constrained environment.
He said at present available dispatchable capacity would not be able to keep up with future demand, meaning the threat of blackouts would increase.
Another challenge is that the costs for clean technology are high and international agreements on financing these technologies had to still be concluded, he said.
The IRP2, which is part of the department's Integrated Energy Plan, looks at the electricity sector and plans will also be developed for liquid fuels and gas, he said.
Aphane said the IRP2 will take into consideration whether the country has enough primary energy source, skills, land and transmissions infrastructure to meet its energy needs.
The plan also needs to meet funding requirements and answer what the future costing of electricity will be, what will be required to meet the country's energy needs and whether there is sufficient confidence from South Africans in seeing the plan through.
It must also consider how the energy needs can also help to grow the country by complementing the Department of Trade and Industry's Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP), which was launched earlier this year and aims to vamp up the country's industrial capacity.
Each scenario will describe the effect on the price of electricity, security of supply, multiplier effects and the effects of carbon on the environment.
Public comments on all 29 parameters of the IRP2 can be found at www.doe-irp.co.za - BuaNews
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 04 August 2010 09:44 |
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Friday, 23 July 2010 14:00 |
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Eskom on Thursday said it was going to establish an independent systems and markets operator to buy power from independent power producers.
The step is seen as "ring-fencing" the administration and pricing systems of non-Eskom power stations so that they can provide electricity to the national grid at a fair price.
Government and Eskom have said they want independent power stations to start generating electricity soon to help Eskom carry the nation’s load.
“Independent Power Producers Association are concerned that even if its ring-fenced within the procurement processes that will be employed may actually run through normal Eskom processes,” said the Independent Power Producers’ Association of South Africa’s Doug Kuni.
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Wednesday, 21 July 2010 17:01 |
The City of Cape Town has decided to bring to an end what is essentially "not a healthy situation" for its financial state.
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