Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter Complains About Crooked Suppliers Selling the Power Utility Bad Coal

• Eskom's chief executive has made some damning accusations against corrupt coal suppliers
• Andre de Ruyter claimed that suppliers switch out the power utility's coal for waste product that doesn't burn well
• The CEO says the suppliers are essentially defrauding the power utility as Eskom pays premium prices for lousy coal

JOHANNESBURG - Andre de Ruyter, Eskom's CEO, says the high demand for coal has made it profitable for corrupt suppliers to cheat the power utility.

The CEO of South Africa's only power utility claimed that the international demand for coal means that unscrupulous suppliers effectively take the coal meant for Eskom and export it to Europe. The suppliers then replace the "stolen' coal with discard coal.

Read also

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter says loadshedding will ease in 10 days, citizens not buying it

The waste coal is of low quality, with a Calorific Value (CV) of seven to eight, compared to Eskom's mandated coal values of 15 to 18 CV. The power utility's CEO says that the discard coal doesn't burn very well because of its low CV.

De Ruyter added that the decision to transport coal by truck instead of rail compounded the power utility's energy supply crisis, News24 reported.

The CEO acknowledged that the decision was made to open up the Eskom market and dissolve the monopoly of a small number of mining companies. But instead, it created opportunities for significant corruption and fraud in the coal value supply chain.

De Ruyter maintained that fraud and corruption are still severe challenges plaguing the power utility, and intervention from law enforcement is needed to curb its prevalence.

Read also

Africa sounds caution on net zero goal ahead of COP27

As the power utility continues to battle with the quality of coal supplied, de Ruyter is looking to move away from the mineral entirely in favour of natural gas. According to BusinessLIVE, Eskom would prefer to tap into local gas supplies to ease the transition from coal.

South Africans react to de Ruyter's claims

South Africans shared their views on the quality of coal supplied to Eskom on social media.

Here are some comments:

@Fatzmybug14 claimed:

"Wait until Europe's winter kicks in, and our coal will be sent there to fuel Europe whilst we sit in the dark."

@NHI_a_Must asked:

"So the Guptas were supplying quality at a cheaper price"

@kingubong commented:

"If excuses were a competition, this CEO will surely win a GOLD MEDAL. The rule books allow for hefty fines for bad coal supplies... Has anyone been fined. He just sells corruption excuses at will to gain mileage?"

Read also

Gwede Mantashe says hunger kills SA faster than fossil fuels during Africa Oil Week address

@KgwatlhaTshepo argued:

"He’s not wrong, the mines bribe Eskom coal assessors, if their coal fails, they pay up, and it gets approved!"

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said loadshedding would ease in 10 days, citizens aren't buying it

In a related story, Briefly News reported that Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter believes the country's electricity woes should subside within the next 10 days. Generation units are expected to be online during the period.

Citizens have endured 120 days of loadshedding so far. However, De Ruyter says the power utility is doing everything possible to add megawatts to the grid.

Eskom's CEO said South Africa has started purchasing power from Zambia and is considering Mozambique and the private sector to add megawatts. He added that the private sector has 6 000 megawatts of new renewable projects in the pipeline, according to TimesLIVE.

Read also

Why crypto's big 'merge' is causing big headaches

Source: Briefly News