Eskom set to re-purpose some of its power stations

DEPUTY President David Mabuza has confirmed in Parliament that Eskom is re-purposing about seven power stations to meet energy challenges.

He said the stations were old and were reaching the end of their lifespan.

He said Eskom had to come up with measures to handle older power stations.

The power utility has been battling load shedding over the last few years and its ageing power plants are facing breakdown.

Answering questions in Parliament yesterday, Mabuza said some of the old power stations that would be re-purposed would include Camden and Grootvlei.

He also told MPs that they were working hard to open the market to ensure energy security, due to load shedding.

“It was important for us to open and follow the IRP 2019 (Integrated Resource Plan), to open the market because the demand is too huge. Currently, Eskom cannot meet the demand. As we speak, Eskom has started to re-purpose Komati power station into renewable (energy), with the capacity of 244MW and battery storage, which is a good sign from Eskom,” said Mabuza.

He added other power stations were also in line to be re-purposed.

Mabuza also said they were also dealing with the plight of military veterans. This comes after veterans allegedly held Defence Minister Thandi Modise, her deputy Thabang Makwetla and Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele hostage at St George's Hotel in Irene in Pretoria a few months ago.

He said one of the things they were doing was to verify the database of military veterans.

He said all military veterans, from statutory to non-statutory forces, had to benefit from the services of government, including housing, medical care, pensions and other benefits.

The government had set up a work stream that dealt with the issue of military veterans. Mabuza also told MPs to stop speculation about his visits to Russia.

Mabuza has in the past confirmed he had travelled to Russia on several occasions to receive treatment for a medical condition.

However, he has refused to disclose the nature of his illness.

Even President Cyril Ramaphosa slammed opposition MPs last year for demanding to know the details of Mabuza's medical condition, saying this was a confidential matter and parties must learn to be sensitive to the situation. Mabuza said yesterday his trips had nothing to do with any deals, but were purely medical-related.