Eskom, South Africa’s state-owned power company, has warned that the country is facing a prolonged electricity crisis due to outdated coal-fired power stations and issues of incompetence and corruption.
The company has promised a reprieve from the blackouts on Christmas Day, but has warned that the first three months of 2023 will be “difficult.” South Africa’s electricity supply currently comes mainly from coal, as well as a 40-year-old nuclear power plant near Cape Town, which will be decommissioned for refurbishment next year.
The outgoing CEO of Eskom, Andre de Ruyter, has said that the country needs between 4,000 and 6,000 MW of additional capacity for the grid “as a matter of extreme urgency.” De Ruyter has cited lack of political support and corruption as obstacles to Eskom’s turnaround, and warned that “our country (risks) becoming ungovernable if we don’t tackle fraud, corruption, sabotage.” The government has recently deployed small contingents of soldiers to four power stations.
