Image: Isolezwe
South African power utility Eskom will get a $2.5 billion loan from the China Development Bank. The loan, backed by the government, will be used for the construction of the Kusile power station in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa.
The Kusile power station project is Eskom’s new coal-fired power plant to be comprised of six units, with a total capacity of 4,800 MW. Once completed, this will be the fourth largest coal fired power station in the world.
“This … moves us very close to concluding the funding for this year because after this funding we would have covered 66 percent of he funding for this financial year,” Phakamani Hadebe, CEO of Eskom told IOL News at the loan signing ceremony.
The loan announcement comes after Eskom announced a net loss of $180 million in the previous financial year, which came about as a result of the mismanagement of finances in previous years.
Recently a number of Eskom power stations have experienced coal shortages that have resulted in a series of power cuts in the Gauteng and Free State provinces.
