Eskom acting head of the generation division, Rhulani Matebula, has resigned from the power utility and is expected to leave at the end of November.

Mathebula was appointed in the acting position just six months ago, following the resignation of long serving generation head Philip Dukashe.

Eskom Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jan Oberholzer has thanked Mathebula for his service.

“Rhulani’s successor will be announced in due course pending the relevant recruitment process. Until then Thomas Conradie…will hold the fort, fully supported by all the key stakeholders.

“I’d like, on behalf of myself [and] all my colleagues at Eskom, to thank Rhulani for the service he has given to Eskom and to the country as a whole. That is sincerely appreciated and Rhulani, we wish you well in all your endeavours to come,” he said.

Meanwhile, Eskom says with older power stations reaching retirement, it is forging ahead with plans to close the energy supply gap.

The power utility says generating units at three power stations must be taken offline over the next five years as the three reach the end of licensed operation coupled with the retirement of Komati Power Station which was taken offline in October.

“To contribute to closing the supply gap, Eskom will repurpose these power stations and take advantage of the existing Transmission infrastructure in these facilities and convert these coal-fired power stations to renewable sources.

“This not only allows Eskom to continue generating much-needed electricity in these and other areas, but also to continue extending economic opportunities to the host communities under its Just Energy Transition programme,” Eskom said.

The power utility said it has already begun the process to invite independent power producers to lease some of its land to build new renewable power plants.

“Within its own scope of influence, Eskom has led initiatives that will result in four independent power producers to invest at least R40 billion in new renewable plants on land leased at four of its power stations. This will produce at least 2 000MW in new generation capacity on approximately 6 200hectares of land over the next few years.

“This is the first phase of the land lease programme, which will raise hundreds of billions in renewable energy investment without any underwriting recourse to Eskom and the taxpayer,” Eskom said.

Source: South African Government News Agency