Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown says Koeberg Power Station in the Western Cape has contributed R29 billion to the province’s GDP between 2013 and 2016.The Minister said this on Thursday when KPMG presented the results of a study of the Koeberg Power Station’s impact on the province and the country’s economy.
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.
“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,” Brown said. 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 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. 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.
“Between 2016 and 2020, Koeberg expects to average 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 are above SA industry average, indicating 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.
