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DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC ENTERPRISES
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO.: 224
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 22 February 2013
224. Mr J F Smalle (DA) to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises:
(1) What is the (a) original and (b) actual (i) cost and (ii) generating
capacity of the Ingula Peaker Plant project;
(2) what will be the cost of electricity generation per unit once the plant
is fully operational;
(3) whether the project experienced any delays; if not, what is the
position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details;
(4) whether any penalties were levied against the contractor for delays on
this project; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are
the relevant details? NW240E
Reply:
According to Eskom:
(1)(a) R17, 1 billion is the budgeted amount excluding interest during
construction and transmission costs. This was provided for in the Multi-
Year Price Determination 2 submission in September 2009.
(b)(i) The actual current estimated cost, excluding interest during
construction and transmission costs is R25, 9 billion.
(b)(ii) Ingula is contracted to generate a total of 1 332MW once the plant
is fully operational and it will consist of four units of 333MW each.
(2) The cost of electricity generation per unit, once the plant is fully
operational is estimated at R1, 246/MWh.
(3) The business case used for the MYPD 2 submission in September 2009
assumed that all four units would be commissioned in the second six months
of 2014. Currently the units are expected to be commissioned for operation
towards the end of 2014 but running into the first six months of 2015. As
this is an underground water pumping scheme, all units must be fully
commissioned before any power generation can take place from the scheme
(first six months of 2015).
The delays and subsequent cost impact have arisen mainly as a result of:
⢠Unforeseen geological conditions that occurred and required re-design
and
testing of cable bolts and anchors;
⢠Unforeseen geological faults in the main turbine hall that delayed
mining
operations;
⢠Dealing with unforeseen excessive water in the outlet tunnels;
⢠Repairs required due to cracks in the buttress in the machine hall;
⢠Lower than anticipated levels of productivity due to labour dispute
issues; and
⢠General schedule integration issues.
(4) Currently no penalties have been levied as the delays were, in the
main, due to unforeseen conditions. All contracts on Ingula are the New
Engineering Contract (NEC3) suite of contracts and all delays are handled
as prescribed by the contract.