Eskom seeks additional funding for grid expansion

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says Eskom needs more funding to expand the power grid. Addressing the media on Sunday on the progress made in implementing the government’s energy plan, he says more needs to be done to improve the reliability of the grid.

“The Eskom balance sheet is not in the position to finance the kind of expansion that is required in both the scale and the speed at which we need to respond to the needs from the transmission side. The Eskom balance will not be enough to support that, and of course, we need to think creatively around how is it that we will be doing to address that.”

Eskom continues to grapple with generation unit trips:

Supply stability for Gauteng

Ramokgopa says his team is working closely with the Gauteng government to co-ordinate a stable electricity supply. He says this is because the province accounts for the highest electricity demand, as the country’s economic hub.

“Gauteng accounts on average about 25% of the load. So the interventions that are made in Gauteng do matter. The weather situation in Gauteng does matter. When you are not able to have the benefit of PD when is cloudy and the demand is rising. I think it has a negative impact on our ability to provide the megawatts because if you do the totality of the megawatts available, we are also drawing from the renewables.”