Embattled power utility Eskom confirmed on Friday that it planned to conclude contracts for both the coal and the long-lead items for its R80-billion-plus ‘Project Bravo' coal-fired power station within the next six months and begin construction immediately thereafter.

It would also seek to conclude coal contracts for the second portion of the R78,6-billion Medupi project, initially dubbed ‘Project Charlie', within the same period. The coal as well as the turbine and boiler contracts for the first phase of Medupi, previously 'Project Alpha', have already been concluded.

The company planned to spend some R300-billion over the next five years on adding additional generation and transmission capacity in a bid to arrest current and future shortages.

Project Bravo, which would be built at a site near Emalahleni, in Mpumalanga, would be the second 5 400-MW power station to be added to the system by 2015.

The boiler and turbine contract were expected to go to Hitachi and Alstom respectively, given that no independent tender was issued for the plant, but it was perceived as part of a ‘fleet' strategy for Eskom's enlarging coal-energy system, and, thus, almost an extension of the Medupi package.

The security of coal supply was key to both stations, particularly in light of rising coal prices as well as instability of supply to Eskom's existing fleet). In fact, inadequate and poor quality supply had been fingered as a key culprit in the country's prevailing electricity crisis, which has led to load shedding and rationing, which has severely affected operations at the country's mines. (See associated video in which Eskom CEO Jacob Maroga explains the role of coal in the current under-performance of its plant).

A task team had been established to deal with the problem and various solutions were being interrogated including the speeding up of regulatory passage for key Eskom-quality reserves; diverting higher-grade coal to the mines to raise the average quality of coal received; improving handling; and raising stockpile levels from the current single-digit-days level to 20 days.