Coal, independent producers are Eskom’s biggest cost drivers – parliament
JOHANNESBURG – Independent power producers and coal procurement are among the biggest cost drivers for state-owned electricity company Eskom, accounting for more than half of its costs, parliament’s select committee on appropriations has said.
The committee this week visited Eskom’s Megawatt Park offices in Johannesburg to examine how management, the board, the government, suppliers and consumers could contribute in returning the financially struggling entity to sustainability.
Eskom said it would apply rotational blackouts for a second day on Thursday, suppressing 2,000MW of demand at any given time to avoid overwhelming the national grid as its capacity was hit by a number of generating units breaking down.
In a statement, the parliament committee said it had lengthy engagements with labour unions on the “trust deficit” between them and Eskom’s management, with union representatives saying they were not being consulted about the closure of some coal-fired generation plants, among other gripes.
“It also emerged that independent power producers and coal costs are among the biggest cost drivers and account for over 50 percent of Eskom’s costs,” committee chairman Sfiso Buthelezi said.
Source: iol.co.za
