The National Assembly of South Africa passed a new ZAR59bn (US$4bn) bailout plan for electricity public utility Eskom. As part of the bailout program, Eskom will receive ZAR26bn (US$1.8bn) in 2019 and ZAR33bn (US$2.2bn) in 2020. This amount will come on top of the plan voted in February 2019 that allocates ZAR23bn/year (US$1.6bn/year) over the next decade, starting in 2019. The Special Appropriation Bill must now be approved by the South African Senate and signed by the President, before entering into force.
No conditions have included in the law on the bailout program, but the funds can only be used to pay off the state-owned company's debt. The government says it will strictly control Eskom’s financial management, most notably its debt and cash management. It will also force Eskom to sell its internal mortgage lending branch, whose loan portfolio reaches ZAR10bn (US$700m).
The state-owned company has accumulated a ZAR450bn (US$31bn) debt and is unable to cover its operating costs and its obligations to lenders and suppliers. It started last week a new series of rolling power blackouts to protect the South African power system from a total collapse.
Interested in Power Plants?
Enerdata has developed a market research service to screen, monitor and analyse the development of power generation assets.
Power Plant Tracker offers an interactive database and a powerful search engine covering power plants worldwide – including both installed and planned capacities for renewables and fossil fuels.