Eskom Considering Taking Climate Funds as Equity Injection
- Such an arrangement would keep its debt burden in check
- Proposal would need to be cleared by National Treasury
This article is for subscribers only.
South Africa’s state power company is planning to propose that some of the funding the country secured to help tackle climate change take the form of loans to the government that could be converted to equity in the utility when needed.
The arrangement would enable Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. to access the $8.5 billion pledged by the U.S., U.K., Germany, France and the European Union without adding to its debt burden, a person familiar with the proposal said. The company wants to use the money to fund the closing of some coal-fired power plants and the construction of renewable-energy facilities to replace them.