Eskom announced a further 29% reduction in electricity prices for two distressed ferrochrome firms in a bid to avert thousands of job losses.
View of South African utility Eskom’s electricity pylons during dawn. Image credit: Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo
The new tariff will see Samancor Chrome and Glencore’s joint venture with Merafe Resources paying 62c per kilowatt hour, from an interim tariff of 87.74c per kilowatt hour approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) in January.
South Africa’s smelting sector has been devastated by high electricity costs, which have surged by more than 900% since 2008 and forced dozens of smelters to shut down.
The Minister of Electricity and Energy, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, said while the initial relief was for the two smelting operations, which had started procedures to cut thousands of jobs, the government was also considering broader power tariff relief for the rest of the sector.
