Eskom should consider selling its crown jewels, FirstRand CEO Alan Pullinger says
Two new power plants, Medupi and Kusile, are still unfinished after a decade of construction, and combined, Eskom estimates they've cost R292.5bn
Eskom should consider selling two coal-fired plants that rank among the world’s biggest to repair the state-owned utility’s finances, according to the head of SA’s biggest bank by market value. The supplier of almost all of SA’s power is being battered by declining sales, high fixed costs, surging debt and unplanned outages that are holding back economic growth. Its two new power plants, Medupi and Kusile, are still unfinished after a decade of construction. Combined, Eskom estimates they have cost R292.5bn to build. The plants are “shiny new” assets that “you would find private-investor capital for, whether that’s local capital or offshore capital,” said FirstRand CEO Alan Pullinger in an interview at Bloomberg’s office in Johannesburg. “There are big energy investors that would probably look to invest in those assets.” Selling the plants would be made difficult if a list of conditions were imposed by the government, such as blocking job cuts, added the CEO, who once headed FirstRa...
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