In order to generate electricity efficiently, Eskom will need to buy 45-million tonnes of coal over the next two years, the power utility said on Thursday.
Eskom’s financial director, Bongani Nqwababa, said 30-million to 34-million tonnes have already been contracted and only South African suppliers will be used. ”The emphasis is that they are all local suppliers. We will not be importing any coal,” he said.
Referring to the government’s loan of R60-billion to Eskom, as announced by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel in his budget speech on Wednesday, Nqwababa said: ”It is a significant positive step.”
He said a levy of two cents per hour on electricity will also help reduce consumer demand.
”It is wise of the minister of finance to encourage energy efficiency so that people can lower electricity [use] by at least 10%,” he said, adding that if consumers decrease electricity consumption, ”they won’t feel the levies”. He added: ”Indeed, every little bit helps.”
However, Nqwababa said that while a ”significant portion” of the industrial sector has achieved an across-the-board reduction of 10% in electricity use, the same cannot be said for the agricultural, commercial and consumer sectors. ”The improvement is very minimal,” he said.
Nqwababa, echoing the utility’s chief executive, Jacob Maroga, said that while demand has been reduced and power cuts have been less frequent, the country is still facing an electricity emergency.
”None of us should be under the illusion that this is behind us,” he said, adding that plant maintenance, which is always undertaken in the summer months, will be completed by the onset of winter.
”If all of us pull together and all our plants are running and all our consumers are energy efficient, then it will be supportive,” he said.
Nqwababa said that Eskom will be putting out tenders in the next week for independent power producers (IPPs) to generate and sell electricity to the utility. The process will take time, however.
”In reality, [the IPPs] are likely to generate power from 2014 onwards,” said Nqwababa.
Referring to an earlier media report that indicated that Eskom had invested in Zimbabwean power stations, Nqwababa said this was incorrect. ”Eskom has no involvement in Zimbabwean investment,” he said. — Sapa