Deputy President David Mabuza has commended the leadership of Eskom on progress made in the construction and the correction in the design defects at the Kusile Power Station.
The Deputy President, in his capacity as Chairperson of the Political Task Team, visited the Kusile Power Station on Friday to evaluate progress achieved on the construction and operations at the power station.
The Political Task Team, led by Mabuza, noted the increased output to 2 400 megawatts that is now being generated by Kusile Power Station to support the national grid, thereby assisting in the reduction of the occurrence of load shedding.
Upon completion by the end of 2023, the power station will provide 4 800 megawatts of electricity to the grid.
“We are encouraged by the progress we have witnesses here at the Kusile Power Station. Kusile has now completed 3 units and they are now in a process of taking the forth unit to commercial operation by mid next year.
“This is significant, in the context of economic reconstruction and recovery to mitigate against the negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns on our economy,” the Deputy President said.
Mabuza also welcomed the fact that the power station has integrated an environmentally friendly technology to mitigate against carbon emissions.
He noted that construction activities at Kusile are winding down, with currently 5 100 construction workers on site. At the peak of building activities there were more than 15 000 construction workers on site.
Mabuza will convene the Eskom Political Task Team meeting in the coming week to further discuss the critical challenge of debts owed by municipalities to Eskom, in particular the Maluti-a-Phofung. – SAnews.gov.za
