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Power Crisis Escalates as Floods Trigger Coal Scarcity

SOUTH AFRICA
  • Stage 6 blackouts are to be implemented indefinitely due to unit breakdowns at the Arnot, Hendrina, Lethabo and Majuba power stations, as well as two units at Camden – the breakdowns total 21 megawatts of capacity. The announcement was published by Eskom yesterday.
  • The risk of powercuts beyond stage 6 is rising, with the Lethabo station running at minimum capacity, but could be fully shutdown if coal supply restraints are not resolved.
  • EWN writes that there’s still no word from President Ramaphosa on who he wants to appoint as the country’s electricity minister, however speculation has been rife that head of infrastructure in the Presidency, Kgosientso Ramokgopa, is likely to be picked for the post. Elsewhere, News24 writes that top ANC officials are becoming tired of the President’s indecisiveness, just months after his re-election as leader at the ANC national congress in December.
  • The South African Treasury have mandated Citi and Nedbank to arrange a non-deal call with investors on Eskom on February 22nd. The call is scheduled at 0900ET/1400GMT/1600SAST and will be followed by a series of investor update meetings on 23, 24, 27 February, 6 , 9 & 10 March and comes as part of the National Treasury’s regular post-budget investor engagement.

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