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Eskom's buyback plan in motion
11/02/2008 14:49 - (SA)
Cape Town - State-owned power utility Eskom is negotiating to buy electricity from local industrial firms in a bid to solve an energy crisis, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said on Monday.
Eskom is under pressure to come up with a plan to increase power generation after weeks of rolling blackouts that have darkened millions of homes and forced businesses to shut. Large mining operations ground to a halt for five days last month.
"Large producers who would not normally want to be in electricity are now considering that there may be merit in them going into electricity production and selling to Eskom," Erwin told a media briefing in Cape Town.
Erwin told Reuters government was talking with Sasol, BHP Billiton and Anglo as it sought to boost power capacity.
"Clearly we are interested in that ... given the strictures on energy and the difficulties we have ... This opens an interesting possibility. We are in intensive negotiations now," Erwin said.
President Thabo Mbeki expressed confidence on Friday that the crisis would be solved quickly but did not give details of the
government's plan. There have been calls from media and opposition parties for him to sack several ministers.
Mbeki and other senior officials have blamed the country's booming economy for increasing demand for electricity, while acknowledging that warnings of such a problem went unheeded for years.
Coal shortages and unexpected breakdowns at power plants also have been cited as factors in the power crunch, which is expected to slow the country's booming economy this year.
Erwin reiterated the government's belief that the crisis could last up to four months and persistent power supply troubles would linger for the next four years or so.
The minister also said Eskom, which is expected to begin rationing electricity in March, had seen a "significant" reduction in electricity demand from industry and business last week.
- Reuters
- Reuters
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