Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility.
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31 Facts About Eskom
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Eskom operates a number of notable power stations, including Matimba Power Station and Medupi Power Station in Lephalale, Kusile Power Station in Witbank, Kendal Power Station, and Koeberg Nuclear Power Station in the Western Cape Province, the only nuclear power plant in Africa.
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In 2019, it was announced that Eskom was to be split up into three distinct nationally owned entities due to huge debts and poor reliability of supply.
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Eskom was founded by the Electricity Act of 1922 which allowed the South African Electricity Control Board to appoint Hendrik Johannes van der Bijl as chairman.
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Eskom changed its name by combining the two acronyms in its previous name in 1987 to become known as Eskom.
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One of Eskom's first power plants was a coal-fired 128 MW station in Witbank, completed in 1935 to provide power to the mining industry.
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Thanks to state support, Eskom was able to buy out the Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Company in 1948 for £14.
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From 1960 to 1990 Eskom increased its installed power production capacity from 4,000 MW to 40,000 MW so as to keep up with rapid economic growth in the 1960s and 70s.
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The number of Eskom employees was reduced from 66,000 to 60,000 in the late-1980s.
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In January 2008, Eskom controversially introduced "load shedding" – planned rolling blackouts based on a rotating schedule, in periods where short supply threatened the integrity of the grid.
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In 2016, Eskom stated it intended to pursue a nuclear solution to the country's energy shortage.
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In 2017, Eskom was the focus of a major corruption scandal involving the Gupta family and the administration of then President Jacob Zuma.
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Part of the refusal was the finding that Eskom had 6,000 more employees than needed, costing the company R3.
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In February 2019, shortly after the announcement by government that the company would be broken up, Eskom initiated another round of emergency load shedding.
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Eskom stated that the 2019 load shedding was initiated due to breakdowns at power stations as well as the depletion of water and diesel resources.
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The power shortage and related troubles at Eskom was blamed as a significant contributing factor to a 3.
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Eskom's logo has been an integral symbol of the company since its founding.
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In July 2019 the outgoing Eskom CEO announced that Eskom had entered a "death spiral" and highlighted the need for the company to restructure.
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Eskom has a number of planned infrastructure projects to further expand electrical production.
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Eskom resigned in 2018 after being implicated in awarding contracts to a company linked to his stepdaughter.
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Eskom's resignation sparked a debate amongst political parties over the difficult state of managing the financially strained state owned company as well as the lack of political cover he was given to deal with labour unions and tackle corruption.
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For 72 hours between 26 March and 29 March 2019 it was reported that Eskom had run out of funds thereby threatening to negatively impact the broader South African economy.
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In July 2018 it was announced that Eskom had taken out a R33 billion loan from the Chinese government owned China Development Bank.
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The large amount owed to Eskom has caused significant controversy given the state utilities financial difficulties and repeated periods of load-shedding.
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Eskom continues to supply Zimbabwe during times of load shedding, and exports power while switching the lights off at home.
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The situation at Eskom and resulting energy crisis became a political issue during the 2019 South African general elections.
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In December 2019, load shedding reached a new high as Eskom introduced stage 6 load shedding for the first time.
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On 19 November 2021, Eskom announced that an initial forensic investigation found evidence that recent damage to a coal conveyor at Lethabo was the result of deliberate sabotage.
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Eskom was forced to suspend its Chief Financial Officer Anoj Singh in July 2017 when the Development Bank of South Africa threatened to recall a R15 billion loan if no action was taken against Eskom officials who were involved in corruption allegations involving the Gupta family.
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In September 2017, Minister for Public Enterprises, Lynne Brown, instructed Eskom to take legal action against firms and individuals involved; ranging from Gupta family-owned consultancy firm Trillian Capital Partners Ltd.
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