BY MBONGENI NDLELA
LAVUMISA – While the country continues to develop more energy production capacities, it is encouraging to hear that the negotiations between the Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) and Eskom are going well.
The EEC imports about 67% of the electricity used in the kingdom, mostly from South Africa’s main power supplier, ESKOM. The current agreement between the two companies is set to expire in December 2025, and talks are already ongoing to renew the agreement after it expires.
Speaking during a press briefing at the tour of the 10MW Lavumisa Power Station based in Qomintaba, Lavumisa, EEC Managing Director (MD) Ernest Mkhonta confirmed that the negotiations are going well thus far, amongst other initiatives to ensure energy security in the country.
“I would like to start by pointing out that we are great trading partners with ESKOM. We actually review the contract with ESKOM every year, to revise the terms of sale as well the price and amount of electricity we would like to buy. The price at which we trade electricity is regulated by regulators in both countries. Throughout the year, we have daily communications with ESKOM to confirm how much electricity the country will require in the following day”.
“Its worth noting that ESKOM has already expressed interest in renewing the agreement with EEC. We are now just discussing the terms which will allow EEC to also sell electricity to ESKOM when we reach the point of producing a surplus in the country – as per our current plans and trajectory,” said Mkhonta.
The MD highlighted that there are ongoing projects to increase the power production capacity in the country, additional to the solar plant at Qomintaba. “For example we just completed a feasibility study that shows that we can produce an additional 10MW the Maguga Hydropower Station, and a further 25MW downstream. It is therefore important to us that as we conclude the renewal of this long-term bilateral agreement, we make sure that it is not a one-way trade of electricity but we can sell it too,” said the MD.
“We need to also consider security of supply. This means that while we try and achieve higher capacity production, we should keep our sources of power open so that when certain plants are down, there is still electricity available on the grid”, the MD said. He added that this is one of the main reasons why the Kingdom of Eswatini is a part of Southern African Power Pool – an organisation that enables the 12 member countries to trade surplus electricity with each other in an open market.”
The MD was speaking during a media tour of the 10MW Lavumisa Power Station based in Qomintaba, Lavumisa, EEC Managing Director (MD) Ernst Mkhonta confirmed that the negotiations are going well thus far, amongst other initiatives to ensure energy security in the country.
