Eskoms says all six units at Medupi are working

Eskom has assured members of Parliament that all six units at Medupi Power Station at Lephalale in Limpopo are working and contributing to the national grid.

The country experienced load shedding at the beginning of the month due to problems at power stations. Technical issues and design defects are often cited as some of the problems leading to power stations underperforming.

Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises conducted an oversight at Medupi and met with Eskom management.

Committee Chairperson Khaya Magaxa says Eskom is working to rectify defects at the Medupi Power Station.

“They have finished with the project of building Medupi, all six units are operational. But the problem that is left now is around defects, they are working on defects so that when they want to have any reparation somewhere it doesn’t contribute to the problem of load shedding, a process that they are promising us it could be done by the beginning of next year,” says Magaxa.

Unpacking Eskom’s latest developments:

[embedded content]

Eskom has used R120 billion of the R145 billion budget allocated for the Medupi Power Station.

Magaxa says the cost for work to rectify the defects will come from the remaining funds.

“We were worried about their impact in terms of finance and then we were assured that they are not going to allocate any money from fiscals or from the state towards those defects, those are the issue that they will be able to deal with them without asking any money from the state. Out of R145 billion so far they have used R120 billion,” says Magaxa.

Deputy President Mabuza confirms that Medupi Power Station will be fully operational by year-end:

[embedded content]