Cape Town - It’s going to cost at least R105 billion, probably more, to complete Medupi Power Station.
This amount is constantly reviewed, according to a response from Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne Brown to a parliamentary question asked by Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota.
Lekota asked whether the government’s financial analysis agreed with that of independent analysts, who have determined that Medupi would come with a R300 billion price tag – 10 times as much as the original amount when the contract for the power station was signed.
“The board of Eskom has not approved any further revision to the R105 billion. The most recent review of the costs is currently undergoing internal governance scrutiny. Should an increase to the current cost of completion be required, the board will seek the necessary shareholder approval through the Public Finance Management Act process,” said Brown.
“Eskom is not familiar with the details, assumptions or factors that have been considered in the independent estimate of R300 billion, hence Eskom is not in a position to comment on the credibility of the estimate. The current approved project cost to completion on the Medupi project is R105 billion.”
Brown said that the government was aware that the costs of the Medupi project could increase due to “various factors” and Eskom would prove the details of these increased costs to the government when all the processes had been completed.
“Eskom is consistently incorporating techniques to improve performance and manage costs,” said Brown.