BL Premium reports that Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter has described as “aggressive” the end-of-2021 deadline for completing the unbundling of the vertically integrated power utility.
But he insisted on Thursday that he was fully committed to adhering to the timeline contained in government’s restructuring roadmap, which was published in October and which anticipated full legal separation of generation, transmission and distribution by the end of 2021. Separate divisional boards have been set up and MDs have been appointed for each division. Each division was already managing separate income statements and, in time, separate balance sheets would be created so that each division could take it share of the utility’s debt, which currently stood at above R450-billion. The utility did not anticipate any additional bail-outs beyond those already announced by the National Treasury. But it was considering the sale of noncore assets and businesses, any proceeds from which would be used to reduce debt. De Ruyter said Eskom was considering ways to access ‘green finance’ through the repurposing of power stations earmarked for decommissioning in the coming years. Eskom will be linking repurposing to the country’s plans for supporting a just transition for workers and communities vulnerable to a transition from coal to renewable energy.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lisa Steyn at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
- Read too, Eskom committed to ‘aggressive’ end-2021 unbundling timeline, at Engineering News
- And also, Eskom CEO sees sustainable future if R450bn debt pile can be slashed, at Engineering News
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