Johannesburg - Eskom says it has not yet received the insurance payout for the Duvha power station, but can’t explain why the annual report says it did.
“No money was paid to Eskom,” the utility’s spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said yesterday.
He said Eskom was still in discussion with the insurers, with the most recent meeting taking place on Friday.
“This unit has been offline since March 30 last year. They’re hoping this will come to an end soon.”
Yesterday, The Star reported that Eskom’s 2015 integrated report for the financial year ended March 2015 states that the insurers paid Eskom R4.2 billion for Duvha’s unit 3, which was wrecked 17 months ago.
This is what that report said: “Insurance proceeds from the settlement of the Duvha unit 3 claim contributed R4.2bn to other income recognised for the year under review. At group level, the amount received from the external insurer is R2.7bn, after deducting the insurance deductible of R1.5bn borne by Escap.” (Escap is the wholly owned Eskom insurer.)
When The Star asked Eskom last week why the payout had been made but there was no plan to start work on replacing the unit, Eskom simply refused to explain.
But yesterday, Phasiwe said the report had been “misinterpreted” and the utility’s finance department had “made provision” for the payout.
The Star also found that while Eskom has claimed for “business interruption costs” for Duvha, it had failed to mention this to the National Energy Regulator (Nersa) in the failed April price hike application, which referred to the unexpected costs of keeping the lights on in the face of failing generating power.
Phasiwe said the finance team had stated that that increase was not meant for anything other than diesel and power buyback costs. “We are not in a position to divulge any more,” he said.
Phasiwe added that the Duvha unit is expected to be operational again in 2017.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Public Enterprises wouldn’t comment. “It’s an Eskom operational matter,” said Public Enterprises spokesman Colin Cruywagen, referring the matter back to Eskom.
However, it’s understood that the ministry demanded an explanation from Eskom, and a written explanation is believed to have been provided.
The utility is also expected to have to explain to the next meeting of Parliament’s committee on public enterprises.
Meanwhile, Koeberg’s unit 2 was shut down yesterday for routine maintenance and is due back in mid-December.
THE STAR