Eskom faces closure threat at biggest working power plant
JOHANNESBURG – Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. is battling to keep all the units of its biggest operational power plant open after being served with a compliance notice by South Africa’s environment ministry because of its high levels of air pollution.
The indebted power utility has failed to fully repair pollution-abatement equipment at its 4,116 megawatt Kendal power plant that began malfunctioning in early 2018 and was damaged further in a strike later that year. The ministry issued the notice in December saying the plant would need to close two of its six generating units, 1 and 5, if action wasn’t taken to bring them back into compliance. It demanded maintenance plans for the rest.
The demands come at a bad time for Eskom, which is struggling to supply South Africa with sufficient power and has been forced to implement nationwide power cuts. It’s building two bigger plants, Medupi and Kusile, but they are not yet complete and it is struggling to service a 454 billion rand ($30 billion) debt burden.
Source: iol.co.za