Eskom will increase its capital expenditure by 44% to R324-billion ($21-billion) over the next five years to build new power stations, the state-owned company said on Wednesday.
The state-owned utility also said it had R85 billion of funding, representing nearly all of the capital needed, for 2016 and 2017.
Eskom is building three new power plants to help shore up power reserves South Africa and expects to add 5 620 MW to the network by 2018 when units at Medupi and Kusile’s coal-fired plants come online.
Eskom, which was granted a lower tariff than it had requested of 9.4% by the electricity regulator, said it had significantly reduced the amount it spent on diesel to R40-million in February from R854-million in October, its CEO Brian Molefe said.
The company had also managed to save R9-billion and increased net profit 22% to R11.3-billion at the end of September.
Reiterating his support for South Africa’s proposed nuclear build plan, Molefe said the sole nuclear plant, Koeberg near Cape Town, provided the cheapest form of energy.
A senior energy official said government would request proposals at the end of the month to add 9,600 MW of new nuclear power to the grid.
To meet its targeted nuclear generation capacity, South Africa’s government has said it plans to build six new nuclear power plants by 2030 at a cost estimated between R400 billion and R1-trillion ($34-billion to $84-billion).
