Life of three Eskom plants may be extended

Cape Town, South Africa --- ESI-AFRICA --- 13 December 2010 - The South African government, facing the threat of an impending electricity shortage, may extend the life of a facility run by Eskom Holdings Limited which is due to retire three power plants between 2020 and 2030, cutting the nation’s capacity by about 7000 megawatts (MW).

Bloomberg News reports that the state-run utility is scheduled to retire the Hendrina, Arnot and Kriel plants, according to minister of energy Dipuo Peters. South Africa will initially consider extending the lifespan of Hendrina, due to close its first unit in 2022, the minister said in a written reply to questions in parliament. today

Eskom, which supplies 95% of the nation’s power, is building plants and reopening mothballed facilities to prevent a recurrence of blackouts that shut mines and factories in 2008. It has a capacity of about 40 000MW.

Almost 52 000MW of the new capacity is required by 2030 in order to meet the forecast demand for electricity, replace decommissioned power stations and provide an adequate reserve margin,” Peters wrote.