Eskom agrees power tariff in bid to save SA ferrochrome

ESKOM has agreed to supply South Africa’s ferrochrome industry with heavily discounted power for the next five years following an agreement on an amended Negotiated Power Agreement (NPA).The agreement, which sets a tariff for 62 cents per kilowatt hour, saves at least 1,500 jobs under risk at the Merafe-Glencore Chrome Venture, and potentially others at Samancor. The tariff represents a massive reduction from the previous Negotiated Pricing Agreement, an earlier special tariff, which set power costs at 87c/kWh.Critically, Eskom said the agreement was time-bound and tailored to the requirements of each ferrochrome smelter, tacitly excluding energy intensive users in other sectors.Said Eskom: “The amended NPA is a medium‑term solution of up to five years and enables a proactive, time‑bound, case‑by‑case approach, allowing Eskom to tailor pricing and contractual structures to the specific commercial circumstances of each smelter, while ensuring transparency, fairness and regulatory alignment for all customers”.“The ferroalloy and iron and steel segments are experiencing sustained pressure from global commodity markets, rising input costs and structural competitive challenges, and will be prioritised ahead of other smelter industry sectors,” it added.This is in line with comments made by Minerals Council president Paul Dunne who in an interview with Miningmx described the ferroalloys sector as “a burning platform”, which had to be saved before the scalability of the agreement could be considered.He added, however, that other intensive energy users were likely to chase up a similar agreement as all smelters labour under Eskom’s excessive price inflation, up 900% over the last 10 years.Eskom also said the agreement “improves Eskom’s liquidity without requiring higher tariffs, additional Eskom borrowing, or further government support”. It did not specify how this was achieved, saying only the details were commercially confidential ahead of assessment by South Africa’s electricity regulator, Nersa.The post Eskom agrees 5-year power tariff in bid to save SA ferrochrome appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com