South Africa's troubled state-owned power company, Eskom, is seeking assistance from China to combat the country's severe electricity shortages, according to a report by Financial Times.
Calib Cassim, Eskom's acting CEO, is currently visiting China with South African Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan. While Gordhan is primarily focused on resolving a dispute between a Chinese state company and South Africa's Transnet, Eskom matters are also on the agenda.
Last month, China offered support to help South Africa overcome its rolling blackouts. The Chinese embassy expressed readiness to discuss providing electricity generation equipment, technical experts, consultation, and personnel training.
South Africa's government, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, is actively seeking solutions for Eskom's decline. German engineers have been brought in to assess the state of the country's aging power stations. However, the energy shortfall is expected to worsen as the cold season deepens.
To prevent a complete grid collapse, Eskom has been implementing daily power cuts of at least 6 GW indefinitely. South African businesses are resorting to expensive diesel generators and importing Chinese-made solar panels to cope with the power cuts in the short term. Meanwhile, companies are exploring independent power projects to reduce reliance on Eskom in the long term.
(Writing by Alex Guo Editing by Harry Huo)
For any questions, please contact us by inquiry@fwenergy.com or +86-351-7219322.