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Johannesburg - Electricity supplier Eskom has not made any decision about cancelling the construction of the 4 800 MW Kusile power station.
"As Eskom we have not made any such decision," Eskom CEO
Brian Dames told Fin24.com on Wednesday, saying the construction of the project was going ahead.
Dames was reacting to an announcement by the energy department's deputy director general Omphi Aphane, who said earlier on Wednesday that the cancellation of the Kusile project "is one of the scenarios" for South Africa's new national electricity plan.
Dames, speaking from China where he is part of the business delegation accompanying President
Jacob Zuma on a state visit, said the Eskom board and government would decide how to proceed with the funding of the project in the next few weeks.
"It is important for the security of supply that the construction of Kusile goes ahead as planned," he said
Kusile (in Witbank, Mpumalanga) is the second 4 800MW power station that Eskom is building to alleviate the shortage of power.
Its first generating unit of 600MW is planned to come on stream by mid-2014. Eskom said in July progress on Kusile was "going well ahead of plan" since the commencement of construction in April 2008. Construction was estimated to be about 17% complete.
The other projects are the 4 800MW Medupi power station in Limpopo and the Ingula pump storage project, whose first of four units will come on stream in January 2013. Ingula has a 1 352MW capacity.
Eskom said in April it had built about 22% of the Medupi project, and the first generating unit was still on track to be commissioned in the first quarter of 2012.
The company has previously said it had secured most of the funds it needed for the major projects, with a shortfall of R45bn for Kusile. However, the money would be needed only after three years.
"The funding in place will carry us through the next 36 months," Eskom finance director Paul O'Flaherty told Fin24.com in April after securing a R27.3bn loan from the World Bank. Eskom had about 18 months to fill the gap.
Dames said on Wednesday a decision about finance needs would be made within the next few weeks.
O'Flaherty said any project cancellation would cast both the country and Eskom in bad light. "It's not what Eskom wants. Not what the government wants. Definitely not what the country wants," he said.
- Fin24.com