South African electric utility company Eskom has signed a $1.5bn (R19.6bn) loan agreement with the China Development Bank for Medupi Power Plant.
The signing ceremony was conducted at Eskom’s head office Megawatt Park in Sunninghill, Johannesburg. The facility will be part of the financing for the Medupi Power Plant that has been under construction since 2008.
Medupi Power Plant is a coal-fired power station that will have a total capacity of 4.7GW, featuring 6 power generating units, each producing about 794MW.
The power plant project is located west of Lephalale, Limpopo Province, South Africa.
Eskom’s Interim Group chief executive Johnny Dladla said: “We are pleased to see the continuation of the journey of co-operation that we started with our Chinese partners last year.
"The conclusion of this second loan agreement continues to demonstrate financial markets’ confidence in Eskom and South Africa notwithstanding the challenging market conditions."
In 2009, French power company Alstom had signed a contract worth over EUR100m with the South African utility to provide the instrumentation and control system for Medupi coal-fired power plant.
Eskom’s chief financial officer Anoj Singh said: “The loan fulfils our intent to diversify Eskom’s funding sources; to date Eskom has secured 77% of this fiscal year’s funding requirement (including cash on hand), we remain resolute that we will fully execute the required funding for the year.
“We are confident that our liquidity levels and financial profile will continue to improve and stabilise.”
Image: The signing ceremony was conducted at Eskom’s head office Megawatt Park in Sunninghill, Johannesburg. Photo: Courtesy of Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.