Eskom agrees to lower quality coal from Gupta-owned Tegeta
Eskom has agreed to allow Gupta-owned mining company Tegeta Resources and Exploration to deliver lower quality coal‚ at a more expensive rate‚ to its Hendrina power station in a show of the family’s continued influence at the power utility. Internal documents seen by TimesLIVE record that during negotiations between Eskom chief procurement officer Jay Pillay and Tegeta on December 7 it was agreed that the amount of iron in coal from the Optimum mine could be more than 50% higher than stipulated in the contract. Iron increases the abrasiveness index of coal‚ and in a March 2016 written parliamentary reply on Optimum and its coal quality Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said: "High abrasiveness index causes high wear and tear rate of the plant. The wear rate causes accelerated wear of parts. This negatively affects the energy output from the station‚ thus the total energy capacity available for dispatch into the grid." The documents also reveal that the price Eskom pays Optimum...
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