Eskom has cancelled its contract with coal mining company, Just Coal, due to consistent substandard coal supplies, according to a statement by the power parastatal.
Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe told FTW Online that the company had been a junior supplier to the 26-year-old Tutuka Power Station for two years since May of 2014, however, after numerous site visits to the collieries it was discovered that the coal supplied was not extracted from the contracted sites.
“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 Eskom’s interim group chief executive, Matshela Koko.
Eskom had requested that Just Coal deliver technical information such as mine layouts and in situ coal qualities in an effort to resolve the issue, but the information provided had not adequately addressed Eskom’s concerns.
“On 16 March we placed Just Coal in breach of its contractual obligations and requested additional technical information. We then afforded them until 23 March to provide the technical information and remedy the breach and they failed to do so,” said Koko.
The power station will not be adversely affected in spite of the inferior coal supplies, according to Phasiwe, as four companies make up the bulk of the coal supplies to Tutuka – with New Denmark supplying the majority of the coal as the anchor.
