Eskom interim Group Chief Executive, Calib Cassim, says government\u2019s commitment to take on at least R254 billion of the power utility\u2019s debt will allow it to put more focus on dealing with the current generation capacity challenges it faces.<\/P>
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Cassim was speaking at a media briefing where various Ministers provided an update on government\u2019s response to the electricity crisis and the regulations of the National State of Disaster related to energy.<\/P>
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\u201cThat decision by the Minister of Finance [Enoch Godongwana] that Eskom doesn\u2019t have to borrow for the next three years allows Eskom to release CapEx [capital expenditure] funds three years in advance not only for generation but for transmission and distribution.<\/P>
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\u201c…[With] the flexibility that we now have on procurement within the governance rules, there should be no excuses from an Eskom perspective, and from a generation perspective… [I don’t see] why load shedding [should not be] reduced going forward.<\/P>
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\u201cWe must not accept Stage 6 [load shedding], we need these stages to come down,\u201d he said.<\/P>
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Head of the Project Management Office in the Presidency, Rudi Dicks, said the debt relief will also allow Eskom to procure more generation capacity.<\/P>
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\u201cThe changes that we\u2019ve made around new generation capacity, particularly through the IRP [Integrated Resource Plan], are that Eskom is not the only entity responsible for the build of new generation capacity.<\/P>
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\u201cWe have the ability to procure new generation through IPPs [Independent Power Producers]. We\u2019ve also changed schedule 2\u2026 so it\u2019s important to understand that this is not necessarily new build by Eskom but the ability for Eskom to procure additional generation,\u201d he said.<\/P>
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Turning to issues related to the National State of Disaster regulations, Dicks said the regulations allow for government to open a one stop shop for businesses to register to apply to build new generation projects in an expedited manner.<\/P>
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\u201cThat one stop shop is currently being formed at the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, where there\u2019s an existing one stop shop for registration of businesses.<\/P>
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\u201cWe are in the process of finalising all the necessary requirements for the establishment of that, including alignment with departments, having systems in place and ensuring that we have an agreement across the entire system of institutions, entities and government that are required to provide permitting, authorisations and requirements for registration.<\/P>
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\u201cAs soon we set [it up formally]\u2026 we will launch it and we will allow for smoother process for energy applications to be processed through one entry point, with a backend system to ensure a streamline and quicker process for approvals so that we can get as quickly as possible to construction and have those megawatts dispatched onto the grid,\u201d he said.<\/P>
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Source: South African Government News Agency<\/P>
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Eskom interim Group Chief Executive, Calib Cassim, says government\u2019s commitment to take on at least R254 billion of the power utility\u2019s debt will allow it to put more focus on dealing with the current generation capacity challenges it faces.Cassim was …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n