ANC shuts out Eskom

Johannesburg - The ANC has decided that an independent process that excludes Eskom should be created to handle the introduction of private power producers, the party's secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, has announced.

At a discussion forum at Gibs, the University of Pretoria's postgraduate business school in Johannesburg, Mantashe said that a discrete process should be created to speed up the finalising of the tender processes for the private power producers.

A year ago private power producers submitted tenders for the construction of private power stations, including baseload power stations.

None of these have yet been accepted by Eskom and the process has ground to a virtual halt.

Baseload power stations continuously generate power, as opposed to peak-usage power stations that are brought into service only at particular times.

"We have decided the process must be handled by a new body outside of Eskom. Eskom will still be the buyer of the electricity, but the new body will also deal with other electricity issues, such as the erection of baseload power stations by other producers. It will also possibly take the demand-management function over from Eskom," Mantashe explained.

He declined to expand on the issue, since government departments would take the process further.

CIC Energy, which has well-advanced plans for a large 2 400 MW coal-fired power station in the Mmamabula coalfield in Botswana, from which power is to be delivered to Eskom, has indefinitely deferred its project because of the delay in concluding an electricity contract with Eskom.

- Sake24.com

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