Eskom seeks nuke scheme exemption

ESKOM on Friday confirmed it had asked Treasury to grant it exemptions from procurement regulations for its nuclear power expansion programme. Eskom chief nuclear officer Dave Nicholls said he submitted a request to the office of the Chief Procurement Officer in May last year to waive certain requirements in terms of Public Finance Management Act regulations relating to the funding and the period for which tenders remain valid. “Eskom can confirm that during the discussions with National Treasury’s Office of Chief Procurement Officer on March 28 this year, Eskom raised the areas of the current National Treasury Regulations (under the PFMA and PPPFA) which might need to be waived for the proposed Nuclear New Build Procurement (NNBP) process,” Nicholls said. Eskom is asking for the period of bid validity to be extended from 12 weeks to two years, as well as a section of the standard for infrastructure procurement and delivery management (SIPDM). – ANA