Government will talk to investors about funding a new electricity generating company ‘outside’ of Eskom, says Mineral Resources and Energy minister Gwede Mantashe.<\/p>\n
Mantashe said that this decision is being taken as a ‘security measure’ as Eskom struggles to provide power to the country.<\/p>\n
“As Eskom is grappling with crises and problems, we must have a fail-safe option of getting energy,” he said at the African Mining Indaba in Cape Town on Monday (3 February).<\/p>\n
“Particularly with the pressure to close a number of coal-generating power stations. We must start generating energy so that we go back to the comfortable days when we had a surplus (of energy).<\/p>\n
“When we have that surplus of energy and competition in electricity generation, the price of electricity will be pushed down.”<\/p>\n
Speaking on the sidelines<\/a> <\/strong>of the conference, Mantashe told reporters that he had invited investors to either partner with the government or invest on their own in the creation of an alternative power generation entity.<\/p>\n “By this time next year we hope we can say we have a site for energy generation outside of Eskom. We want people to sell energy through transmission. We want to take the pressure off of Eskom,” said Mantashe.<\/p>\n