Ingula scheme, Kusile and Medupi to power up soon

DURBAN: Eskom is planning to bring the Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme in Ladysmith on line as early as next year, at least a year before its deadline.

And in another boost, Kusile power station in Mpumalanga and more units at Medupi power station in Limpopo are also expected to start functioning next year.

Eskom management, led by the company’s chief executive Brian Molefe, made the announcement during a breakfast stakeholder meeting attended by business people, government, municipal officials and Eskom employees in Durban yesterday.

This was Molefe’s first official stakeholder engagement in KwaZuluNatal since being appointed to run the company.

The Ingula project has been plagued by construction-related delays including an accident in October 2013 that left six people dead and seven injured. Media reports at the time said the accident occurred after a platform collapsed.

At the time of the accident, reports indicated that the first unit of Ingula was expected to come into operation in February this year. That was already way beyond the initial completion date for the whole project of December 2012. The next completion date mentioned was 2018.

Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe said Eskom planned to fasttrack construction and bring about 4000 megawatts to the grid by completing the four units at Ingula, one at Kusile and two at Medupi, and bringing them online next year.

The power would provide much needed relief from load shedding and also restore business and investor confidence in the country.

Phasiwe said they had plans in place to allow project leaders access to the necessary resources and support from the management to fast-track the projects.

“What the chief executive is saying is that people leading these projects should get the necessary support, and quickly. If they need engineers, they should be able to get those skills quickly so the projects are not delayed.

“We want to stabilise the electricity grid and stabilise the finances of the company. The chief executive travelled to England last month where he spoke to investors and people are interested in investing in Eskom. There may be issuing of bonds by next year.”

The meeting also gave stakeholders, such as municipalities, a chance to state their concerns. “Municipalities like the Hibiscus Coast municipality complained that there are areas that have no electricity and would Eskom attend to those areas.”