Here is the true cost of Eskom’s Medupi and Kusile power stations

Energy analyst Chris Yelland said he is disturbed by misinformed, outdated, and incorrect figures of the cost to completion for Medupi and Kusile.

Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) chairperson Kmhuleko Hlengwa said Medupi’s cost is R146 billion and Kusile R161 billion.

Yelland said these figures appear in the 2018/2019 Eskom statements, but are very misleading and outdated.

According to Yelland, Eskom executives admitted that these figures are outdated and that the costs are in fact far higher.

He said the figures quoted by SCOPA come from Eskom’s financial statements from 3 years ago, and are simply wrong.

Yelland highlighted that these cost-to-completion figures for Medupi and Kusile do not include:

• Flue gas desulphurisation for Medupi – R38 billion
• Capitalised interest during construction – R50 billion and R65 billion for Medupi and Kusile respectively.
• Rework and unauthorised expenditure at Medupi and Kusile since 31 Mar 2016.

How much Medupi and Kusile really cost

Yelland published cost-to-completion (CTC) figures for Medupi and Kusile which he said he received in writing.

He added that these figures were confirmed to him in a one-on-one meeting with the Eskom COO and CFO two weeks ago.

It should be noted that these costs exclude unauthorised expenditure and rectification costs for design, execution and construction problems.

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