National Gordhan told to come up with recovery plan for Medupi and Kusile A re-assessment of the key cost drivers and time over-runs for the Eskom power stations, which are rife with design and technical problems, will be undertaken BL PREMIUM

Cabinet has mandated public enterprises minister Pravin Gordan to produce a comprehensive recovery plan for Eskom’s Medupi and Kusile power stations. The plan will include a re-assessment of the key cost drivers and time over-runs for the new-build project, which has been plagued by design faults and underperformance, ultimately contributing to the country’s electricity shortage and load-shedding. The Cabinet said in a statement on Thursday after its meeting the day before, that it remains concerned about the performance of the two power stations, which are projected to generate 4,800MW each. The Medupi power station has been plagued by cost and time over-runs as well as design and technical problems and is way behind in its construction schedule and way in excess of its budget. The first sod for Medupi was turned in 2007 when its cost was estimated at R69bn and the completion date estimated by 2015. The cost is now estimated at more than R145bn and all six units are only expected t...