JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – State-owned power utility Eskom has terminated a contract with a major coal supplier to its Tutuka power station after discovering the coal supplied was not extracted from the contracted collieries.
The parastatal, following strict monitoring of the coal quality to the station, revoked the contractual relationship with Just Coal owing to its “consistent supply of inferior coal”.
“This is in breach of its contractual obligations to Eskom. The result is that Eskom is burning an unknown combustion characteristic coal resource at its Tutuka power station, potentially resulting in load losses,” said interim group CEO Matshela Koko in a statement this week.
The technical information, such as mine layouts and in situ coal qualities, that Eskom had requested from Just Coal, did not “adequately address” Eskom's concerns.
“Eskom is intolerant of any deviations from the prescribed standards and processes. This, quite plainly, amounts to corruption, which we cannot condone in any part our business. As a State entity, there is an innate expectation to be prudent and corruption-free in how we conduct our business,” concluded Koko.