The power utility confirmed in its results presentation earlier this week that its net loss after tax increased to R23.9 billion \u2013 a significant jump from the R11.9 billion loss reported in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eskom interim CEO Calib Cassim said the 2023 financial results reflect the company\u2019s challenging operational performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He revealed that municipal debt to Eskom increased from R44.8 billion to R58.5 billion over the last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cassim also revealed that the utility\u2019s energy availability factor worsened from 62.02% to 56.03% in 2023 due to generation supply constraints and shortfall from the IPP programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Faced with intense power cuts with seemingly no end in sight, South African households and businesses are increasingly turning to alternative energy sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Data from Eskom and Professor Anton Eberhard revealed that South African households and businesses had installed 4,400 MW of rooftop solar PV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eberhard posted data from Eskom, which showed that the country\u2019s installed solar rooftop PV increased from 983 MW in March 2022 to 4,412 MW in June 2023 \u2013 a 349% increase<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Furthermore, this allows companies to continue to operate during outages, reducing the impact of load-shedding on lost trading hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The import of solar panels also hit a new record, with R8.4 billion worth of panels being imported in the second quarter of 2023, over double the amount imported in the year\u2019s first quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The value of imports in the first half of 2023 is more than the entire value imported in 2022, which was R5.6 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n R12 billion worth of solar panels have been imported by South Africans so far in 2023, adding 2,200 MW of capacity to the grid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you look at solar installations in South Africa a few years ago, it was a luxury. Now, the cost of solar panels has become extremely affordable,\u201d Kruger said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While everyone cannot afford batteries and solar panels, people can shift their demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey\u2019re starting to cook on gas; they\u2019re doing all kinds of things to avoid Eskom. So, Eskom is no longer a monopoly, and they must come to terms with that mindset,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If the state wants to have a state-owned enterprise, it now has to compete against the private sector, which Eskom is struggling to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fourfold increase in solar rooftop PV significantly reduces the residual load that Eskom needs to meet during the day, which has cut into the utility\u2019s revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bloomberg<\/a> reported that the surge in the installation of solar panels on houses and business premises has already cut Eskom\u2019s sales by 2.3%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A good example is the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. With a population of more than 700,000 people, it lost R350 million in revenue because of solar installations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is bad news for the utility already struggling to keep afloat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Back-door privatisation\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In February, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that the National Treasury would be taking over a significant portion of Eskom\u2019s debt through a R254 billion debt relief package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, this bailout did not come without strings attached, as the Minister also outlined several conditions for the utility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eskom, the National Treasury, and the Department of Public Enterprises have agreed to design a mechanism for building new transmission infrastructure that will allow for extensive private sector participation in developing the transmission network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, Eskom must implement the operational recommendations emanating from an independent assessment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This will include determining which plants can be resuscitated to the original equipment manufacturer\u2019s standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eskom must then concession all these power stations with clear targets for the electricity availability factor and operations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many experts<\/a> agreed that these conditions spell out the privatisation of Eskom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Efficient Group chief economist Dawie Roodt said this is a \u201cback-door kind of privatisation\u201d with the Treasury forcing Eskom to privatise its distribution network and partially privatise its generation fleet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This article was first published by Daily Investor. Read the original here<\/strong><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dailyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Calib-Cassim-1024x576.jpg\")
![\"Dawie](\"https:\/\/dailyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Dawie-Roodt-1024x576.jpg\")
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