Eskom CEO André de Ruyter has laid out a funding plan to help the company move away from using coal.
De Ruyter said Eskom is proposing a multi-lender loan facility from development finance institutions that would be paid out in segments over several years. Mandy Rambharos, head of the Eskom department that is leading the transition, has previously said it could cost $10bn (about R146bn).
Eskom is considering 8,017MW of projects, including wind power, solar, hydropower and gas, De Ruyter said in a presentation to the presidential climate commission on Friday.
Eskom and SA are under pressure to cut emissions as SA is the world’s 12th-biggest emitter of climate-warming gases. Eskom accounts for about two-fifths of the country’s emissions.
In a separate presentation, deputy finance minister David Masondo said ways to resolve Eskom’s R400bn debt burden included asking for debt forgiveness at the sovereign level in exchange for meeting climate goals;listing the company on a stock exchange; or inviting foreign utilities to take a stake.
Masondo said he wasn’t in favour of shifting a portion of Eskom’s debt onto the state balance sheet or putting it in a special-purpose vehicle. The proposals aren’t the views of the National Treasury, he said. — Bloomberg
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