South African Minister for Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, said a complicated transaction, Eskom’s lack of urgency and outstanding debt led to the delay in importing 100 MW from Mozambique , an agreement that was established in June. Earlier this month, the Mozambican government said it was frustrated that there had been no progress by Eskom in finalizing the purchase of electricity promised to help ease load shedding. The addition of 100 MW will increase power availability in South Africa by 0.2 percent and is equivalent to approximately 10 percent of a load shedding phase. However, it was important for Eskom to have access to all possible megawatts, Ramokgopa said. Responding to questions in the National Assembly this Wednesday, Ramokgopa said that “legacy debt issues” between Eskom and its Mozambican counterpart were one obstacle, while another was the complexity of the contract, which needed to be taken into account. price and exchange rate risk. Ramokgopa detailed that Mozambique confirmed that 100 MW can be made available immediately and 600 MW by the end of December. “So, at our level, we agreed that we had secured that. But even in the midst of the crisis, you still have to respect and honor the processes. So the contracting process had to happen. There was also a long-standing issue with Eskom’s counterpart in Mozambique , who owed him a significant amount of money. I am pleased to report that these matters have been resolved. We will do our best to pursue every megawatt because aggregation will help us reduce blackouts,” he added. Ramokgopa said he agrees with opposition MPs that more urgency is needed to resolve the reduction in blackouts and that “in this case, it appears that this is not something that (Eskom) has done quickly”. (News24) Source: Carta de Moçambique
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