The Minister of Public Enterprises, Lynne Brown, has congratulated Eskom’s leadership for their inspirational leadership to get the build-programme back on track. Eskom synchronised Medupi’s unit 5 to the grid today.
This synchronisation adds an additional 800MW to the grid. It is expected that unit 5 will become commercially operational by March 2018.
“The Board headed by Dr. Ben Ngubane and the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Brian Molefe, have successfully steered Eskom through difficult times. I want to congratulate them and their staff for their commitment to the country.
“They have managed to turn Eskom around and placed the company on a sound operational and financial footing compared to a year ago. This year Eskom announced a net profit (after tax) for the 2015/16 financial period of R4.6 billion.
“This has contributed to operational and financial sustainability for the company, while the grid had stabilised to such an extent that we have a reliable electricity supply for South Africa.
“What we are seeing is a culmination of visionary leadership that placed Eskom in a much stronger position.
“Their inspiring leadership stabilised the grid and since May last year we have seen the build-programme being accelerated, while at the same increased maintenance.
“This year we have seen Ingula Power Pump station’s unit 3 and 4 becoming commercially operational, while Medupi’s unit 6 led the way in the second half of 2015.
“Over the past 18 months, we have seen 1 800MW being added to the grid and the new build programme will add 8 600 MW of new capacity by 2020/21. Over and above the added power supply, Eskom has invested R289.5 billion (excluding capitalised borrowing costs) on its capacity expansion programme since 2005.
“Mr Molefe has managed to revitalise Eskom by assembling and leading a dynamic Executive team. There is a new sense of urgency and a drive to succeed at Eskom,” said Minister Brown.
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