December 12, 2007 -- POWER utility Eskom has awarded a $235m contract to the US-based diversified manufacturer SPX Corporation to supply components to the coal-fired Medupi power station.

The power station is to be built near Lephalale in Limpopo between now and 2015.

The awarding of this and other contracts announced recently are a prelude to the construction of the R78,6bn Medupi power plant, the first base-load facility to be built in SA in 20 years.

Once completed by 2015, the new power station is expected to add 4800MW into SA's national grid. Eskom has said the first of the power plant's six units would be connected to the grid by 2011 to help combat power shortages.

The Medupi power plant forms a large part of Eskom's R150bn capital investment over the next five years.

Under the $235m contract, which is expected to run for the next five years, SPX would supply filters and air preheaters, and manufacture pressure parts for all six of Medupi power station's 800MW boilers.

The SPX contract comes a month after Eskom awarded two other contracts with a combined value of R33bn to Hitachi Power Europe and Alstom Power Systems. The larger contract of R20bn was awarded to Hitachi for the provision of boilers while the R13bn contract went to Alstom for the supply of turbines.

SPX CEO, president and chairman Chris Kearney said the company was excited about its prospects in SA.

"We have an established presence in SA so we are well positioned to help the country meet its increasing power and energy demand.

"We are making a substantial investment in our manufacturing facilities and employee base, and are committed to build our business for the long term in SA."

Kearney said the Medupi power station would be one of the most modern and efficient in the world.

"Our highly efficient and environmentally friendly filters and air preheaters will help reduce emissions and enhance the productivity of Medupi," said Drew Ladau, president of SPX thermal equipment and services.

Besides the construction of the Medupi power plant, Eskom CEO Jacob Maroga recently said the company would also build another base-load power facility in the coal belt of Mpumalanga at a cost of R84,8bn.

Maroga said the company's approved capacity expansion projects budget was R204bn, of which R150bn would be used in the next five years.

The state-owned company would spend a total of about R1-trillion between now and 2025 to add an extra 40000MW to SA's national grid.

Eskom said yesterday that it would continue to ration power nationwide for the rest of the week because of shortages caused by scheduled maintenance work.

Its "prognosis for the festive season" was that there would be no load shedding from next week until the end of the first week next month .

"Eskom would like to warn all consumers that the system is forecast to be tight during the second week of next month as the pattern for demand during this period is very high," said Erica Johnson, Eskom's MD of systems operations and planning.

"During this time Eskom will use all emergency energy resources, which will include the use of Eskom's gas turbines and buying back power from large industrial customers," she said.

Source: All Africa