Eskom and AFD to use €150 million for energy improvement
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The facility is for 25 years - including a five-year grace period and 20 years of capital repayment - and will finance investments for grid strengthening, refurbishment, reliability improvements, minor reticulations, split metering and upstream grid reinforcement to cater for renewable energy.
In addition, Eskom has also concluded a tripartite financial partnership agreement amounting to €450 000 (R6.8 million) with Électricité de France (EDF) and AFD. The funding provided by AFD through this agreement will be in the form of a grant, and is the first ever grant for which Eskom is the key beneficiary.
As one of AFD’s largest partners in Africa, Eskom is eligible for grant funding from the Technical Expertise Fund, which was established by the French Ministry of Finance.
The grant will finance a knowledge exchange and expertise from EDF on various areas specific to power utilities ranging from distribution to renewable energy integration, and key recommendations to improve its performance in terms of system efficiency and reliability.
The primary objective of the partnership is knowledge, experience and expertise sharing between the two utilities.
AFD has previously supported Eskom through loans for the construction of the 100 MW Sere Wind Farm for a value of €100 million, and the concentrating solar power (CSP) plant for a value of €100 million. ■