The Western Cape is lobbying national government to initiate a Gas Independent Power Producer programme as a matter of urgency to tackle the energy crisis.

This comes as Eskom, which supplies virtually all of SA’s energy, continues to struggle to meet demand largely due maintenance issues and poor management. The power utility’s substations, which are meant to help meet peak demand in times of constrained electricity supply, currently run on diesel which the DA says is an unaffordable and environmentally unfriendly source of power. According to a recent report by the Daily Maverick, Eskom which is struggling with mounting debt of R440bn which it cannot service from revenue plans to spend up to R4.32bn on diesel for gas turbines to keep the electricity supply on until December...

Subscribe now to unlock this article.

Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).

There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.

Cancel anytime.

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.