As Eskom continues to debate the prolonging of projects, Kusile coal-fired power station continues to be the center of attention. However, Eskom CEO Jacob Maroga insisted that Kusile would remain on schedule.
“We are saying… let’s commit ourselves to ensuring that [Kusile] doesn’t stop, and to the extent that there is a [funding] gap, let’s see how we can close it,” Maroga said. “We want to continue with the build,” he stressed, adding that Eskom was also committed to closing what would be a R30-billion funding gap should the requested increases be granted.
Yet he also admitted that the state-owned utility was continually assessing the “shifting of certain cash flows” as well as the possibility of bringing in “other parties to assist with the build.”
If the project was put on hold, Eskom would have a greater cash flow. Alternately, the state-owned utility would face the prospect of serious penalties including the increase in costs once the project was restarted. The only potential upside from the deferral of Kusile would be the impetus that it might provide to the much-frustrated independent power producer (IPP) program. Indeed, the government and Nersa would have to turn to IPPs to urgently remedy what would otherwise be a significant supply-side gap.
So, what will Eskom do?
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