Eskom fires supplier over bad coal

The power utility discovered that Just Coal CC was consistently delivering inferior coal, following a strict monitoring process of all its suppliers. After numerous site visits to the contracted collieries, it was determined that coal supplied to the Tutuka Power Station by Just Coal CC was not extracted from the contracted collieries.

Source: Eskom

“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 Matshela Koko, interim group chief executive, Eskom.

He added that in an effort to resolve the issue, Eskom requested technical information such as mine layouts and in situ coal qualities from Just Coal CC. “The information provided did not adequately address Eskom's concerns.”

“On 16 March 2017, we had placed Just Coal in breach of its contractual obligations and requested additional technical information. We then afforded them until 23 March 2017 to provide the technical information and remedy the breach and they failed to do so.

“Eskom is intolerant of any deviations from the prescribed standards and processes. This, quite plainly, amounts to corruptions, 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,” he said.

The coal-fired, six boiler/turbine unit Tutuka power station is situated in Mpumalanga, and contributes 3,600MW supplied to consumers and industries throughout the country