Eskom has revealed that the construction of its Medupi and Kusile power stations, which are expected to cost R18 billion each, will continue as the cost of stopping the construction will not benefit the economy, the power utility explains.
According to Fin24, the chairperson of the Eskom board, Jabu Mabuza, stated that the building of the coal-fired power stations began in 2007 and 2008 respectively and have been hit by cost overrun, poor engineering designs and allegations of corruption.
“We have done the exercise and concluded that the costs of not continuing is not going to be met by the benefit of continuing, so if you stop this then you are going to have to build something else,” said Mabuza.
Eskom added that once completed the Medupi power station was expected to consist of six units, with installed capacity of 4 764MW and that five of its six units had been synchronised to the national power grid in October 2018.
The publication adds that the Department of Public Enterprises revealed before a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee that the construction of the plants have already escalated to over R300 billion.
