South Africa's state-owned power utility Eskom is facing calls to appear before the South African Parliament over costs related to its 1,332 MW Ingula hydropower project. Costs are estimated to have escalated from R8.9bn to R36bn (from US$650m to US$2.6bn).
The company connected and synchronised the fourth unit of the Ingula project in June 2016. The hydropower project was built between Ladysmith and Harrismith in the Little Drakensberg and is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2016. Unit 3 was connected to the grid in early March 2016 but experienced an incident and is currently under repair, while unit 2 was synchronised to the grid in May 2016 and is under optimisation. Unit 1 is still under construction. Full operation is scheduled for 2017.
Eskom's newbuild programme is closely followed, as delays in plants commissioning led to massive power shortages and rolling blackouts and as tariffs have been increased dramatically.
Searching for proven generation costs?
Then CAPEX & LCOE is the database you need. The module provides exclusive insights on both Capital Expenditure and Levelised Cost of Electricity.
Make informed decisions in terms of which technologies to invest in and where. In just a few clicks, access unique, premium data on both thermal and renewable power generation costs by technology and by country. Put our detailed, reliable information to use and benchmark your project.