South Africa’s Electricity Minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, announced that the country will prioritize the expansion of its grid over the next decade to address power shortages and end daily power cuts.
Former Eskom CEO, Jacob Maroga, stated that changes in the power utility’s leadership have led to fundamental improvements, resulting in reduced load-shedding.
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is expanding its investigations into corruption at Eskom, including contractors and private companies involved.
The investigations have grown as more corruption is uncovered, ranging from employee-related cases to coal contracts, sabotage, and power station construction, including projects like Medupi and Kusile.
South Africa’s Electricity Minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, cautioned against adding too much solar generation capacity to the grid too quickly, as it could potentially cause the grid to collapse.
Moody’s, a rating agency, stated in a research note that Eskom, the South African utility company, is unlikely to meet its performance targets due to mismanagement, coal supply issues, skills shortages, sabotage, and theft.
Eskom had set ambitious goals to improve its Energy Availability Factor (EAF) to 65% by March 2024 and 70% by March 2025, but currently, its fleet has an EAF of 57%. Moody’s emphasized that these targets are challenging given Eskom’s difficulties and track record.