Eskom: Medupi delay not true

Energy expert Chris Yelland says officials at the parastatal extended the deadline from mid-February to the end of March. 

However, Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe says they've always maintained that Medupi will be synchronised in the first quarter of 2015.

"We as Eskom have always said we are going to synchronise Medupi within the first quarter of this year. This issue about the extension of the deadline is not necessarily true. Anytime between now and the end of March we will synchronise Medupi," Phasiwe says.

Construction of the Medupi Power Station started in 2007. It was first anticipated to come online in mid-2014, but was delayed due to technical, labour and manufacturing problems. 

It is set to have six boilers each powering 800MW turbines, producing 4800MW of power. 

Phasiwe says the synchronisation is a mere milestone towards the end product in June when Medupi goes online. 

Eskom also announced on Monday that it will shut down its Koeberg Power Station for three months for routine maintenance. 

Meanwhile, on Monday Eskom said it has the capacity to meet the current electricity demand. 

South Africans endured rotational blackouts throughout the weekend.

 

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