Johannesburg - Eskom said on Thursday that it would go abroad and try to lure back South African engineers and other technicians it needs to execute its R97bn capital expenditure (capex) over the next five years.
Responding to a question after the power utility's results presentation, CEO Thulani Gcabashe said Eskom would first try to recruit locally and thereafter abroad.
"(Our) priority is to recruit locally, but we are aware that there is a shortage (of skilled engineers) and everyone is recruiting", said Gcabashe.
"We?ll look at South Africans abroad and see if we can bring them back and thereafter look at (recruiting) other nationalities".
A major portion of Eskom's capacity expansion budget, nearly R65bn or 67% of the R97bn, will be spent on improving capacity to generate electricity, including returning to service three mothballed power stations - Camden, Grootvlei and Komati - which will provide 3600 mega watts (MW) capacity when fully operational.
The two open cycle gas turbines at Mossel Bay and Atlantis -expected to be operational by next winter - will add a further 1022MW and cost R3.8bn.
Gcabashe said the parastatal expected to add a total 3582 MW at a cost of R41bn.
Transmission and distribution capacity will take up a combined 31% of the R97bn budget.
Gcabashe said project planning for power plants and transmission is well advanced and include a 765 kV transmission line from Standerton in Mpumalanga to Cape Town to be ready by 2009.
A pump storage power station in the Drakensberg escarpment would cost R9bn and a base load power station in Lephalale, Limpopo province a further R26bn.
In response to the government's 6% economic growth target, "Eskom has committed to an expansion programme that will more than double capacity over 20years," said Gcabashe.
Gcabashe added that further coal, gas and nuclear options are being evaluated for the financial 2007 year.
To fund this expenditure, finance director Bongani Nqwababa said Eskom had registered a R65bn multi-term note with the Bond Exchange of South Africa (BESA) in March this year.
Eskom had launched the first bond in the programme - of R2.5bn -and said it's the longest term bond in South Africa. It has issued a €500m (R22.9m) seven-year maturity at "favourable rates".
Said Nqwababa: "We have a funding strategy in place with two successful bond issues (already). We have built a dedicated asset creation division over the past year that places us in a position to create more assets".