Cape Town � Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown says the Koeberg Power Station in the Western Cape has contributed R29 billion to the province’s gross domestic product (GDP) between 2013 and 2016.
The Minister said this when accounting firm KPMG presented the results of a study of the Koeberg Power Station’s impact on the province and the country’s economy at the plant in the Western Cape on Thursday.
Koeberg currently supplies approximately 5.6% of the power, or 1 860 MW, used in South Africa and 50% of the Western Cape’s energy demand.
According to KPMG, between 2013 and 2016, Koeberg contributed R29 billion to the GDP of the Western Cape Province (1.4% of the provincial GDP) and R23 billion to the rest of the South African economy, she said.
The event was also attended by Eskom board members, the power utility’s interim Group Chief Executive Matshela Koko, KPMG economists and Koeberg senior management.
Minister Brown said the power station is expected to add R27 billion to the Western Cape provincial GDP and an additional R22 billion to the South African economy between 2016/17 and 2019/20.
She said Koeberg, as well as its web of suppliers and service providers, contributed R8 billion to Western Cape provincial revenue between 2012/13 and 2015/16 through direct and indirect tax collection.
Koeberg contributed another R9 billion to the fiscus over the same period, the Minister said.
Boiling it down to household level � the coalface of poverty, inequity and unemployment � the Koeberg project added R20 billion to household income between 2012/13 and 2015/16. A total of R3 billion (13%) went to low income households in the Western Cape.
Nationally speaking, Koeberg contributed R15 billion to household income between 2012/13 and 2015/16, she said.
Powering jobs
The Minister said over and above keeping the lights on, power stations generate jobs for the construction industry, maintenance teams and the producers of a multitude of goods and services.
She said they stimulate � and sometimes carry almost single-handedly � entire local economies and communities.
Between 2016 and 2020, Koeberg expects to weigh-in with an average of 2 300 direct and 42 000 indirect jobs per annum in the Western Cape. We are not talking menial labour. The income levels for Koeberg’s employees is above the industry average in South Africa, which points to the highly skilled nature of the job opportunities available at Koeberg, she said.
The Minister said nationally, in the same period, the power station expects to contribute approximately 63 000 jobs. These are huge numbers…
Koko welcomed the findings of the study.
We are pleased that independent studies, such as the one done by KPMG, affirm Eskom’s significant footprint as these outline the economic and social contribution of one of Eskom’s 27 power stations we have in South Africa.
Source: South African Government News Agency