ANALYSIS | Is Medupi really complete or was it a 'premature paperwork exercise' for Eskom?

On Monday, Eskom announced that the construction of coal-fired Medupi has finally reached completion as it meets "... statutory, safety and legal" requirements.

However, extensive repair work still needs to be done at the plant in the next 24 months, as it is still not delivering power at maximum capacity. Even more critical, is the installation of technologies to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions to be legally compliant.

Energy analyst Chris Yelland reckons that Monday's announcement was a "... premature paperwork exercise", given the rework that needs to be done to address boiler design defects, as well as the installation of flue-gas desulphurisation equipment - which is necessary to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions for Eskom to be compliant with national air quality standards.