COP26 deal will help power supply – De Ruyter

ESKOM chief executive officer André de Ruyter is adamant that the R131 billion loan deal secured at COP26 will help in an uninterrupted supply of electricity and the introduction of electric vehicles including the hydrogen economy in South Africa.

De Ruyter made these revelations during a virtual meeting briefing yesterday when he gave the nation an update on the effects of load shedding and the power utility’s intention to lift it by 5am on Saturday.

He said the deal was the outcome of discussions between the US, Germany, the UK, France and the EU which agreed to assist South Africa with its move from coal to renewable energy.

“The funds allocated would assist Eskom with the Just Energy Transition Partnership [to support South Africa’s decarbonisation efforts]. The loan will also allow us to introduce electric vehicles and the hydrogen economy in the country,” De Ruyter said.

He refuted claims that Minister of Environmental Affairs Barbara Creecy and Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe were opposed to the loan deal.

Clearing the apparent misconception following a question from one of the journalists who were part of the briefing, De Ruyter said Creecy and Mantashe were only opposed to the proposal by about 30 countries at the COP26 which wanted to force countries such as South Africa and others to stop coal projects.

“Minister Mantashe and Creecy did not align themselves with the move to stop coal projects. So their objections had nothing to do with the loan agreement,” Ruyter emphasised.

Yesterday, the power utility also announced that it had served legal notices to some of the big municipalities and key industries which allegedly contravened instructions to implement load shedding. The defaulters were also reported to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa for action against them.

Eskom has also threatened to conduct compulsory load shedding if these entities continue to fail to comply with the instruction to load shed.

Eskom was at pains to explain to the media that load shedding was different from blackouts.

According to De Ruyter, blackouts happen for days and weeks, while load shedding was a controlled phenomenon.