Eskom facts for kids
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| Public utility | |
| Traded as | JSE: BIESKM |
| Industry | Energy industry |
| Founded | 1 March 1923 |
| Headquarters | Sunninghill, South Africa |
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Key people
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Andre de Ruyter (CEO) |
| Services | Electricity |
| Revenue |  R 179.8 billion (FY2019)US$ 12.4 billion |
 R-20.7 billion (FY2019)US$ -1.4 billion |
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| Total assets | R 758 billion (FY2019) US$ 52.2 billion |
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Number of employees
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46,665 (FY2019) |
Eskom is a South African electricity public utility, established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM), by the South African Government and people of the Republic of South Africa in terms of the Electricity Act (1922).
South Africa became a Republic in the 1960s. Eskom represents South Africa in the Southern African Power Pool. The utility is the largest producer of electricity in Africa, is among the top seven utilities in the world in terms of generation capacity and among the top nine in terms of sales. It is the largest of South Africa's state owned enterprises.
Eskom operates a number of notable power stations, including Medupi Power Station in Lephalale, Kusile Power Station in Witbank, Kendal Power Station, and Koeberg nuclear power station in the Western Cape Province, the only nuclear power plant in Africa. The company is divided into Generation, Transmission and Distribution divisions and together Eskom generates approximately 95% of electricity used in South Africa, amounting to ~45% used in Africa, and emits 42% of South Africa's total greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2019, it was announced that Eskom was to be split up into three distinct nationally owned entities due to huge debts and poor reliability of supply.
Images for kids
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The Congella Power Station completed in 1928 was one of the first power plants built and owned by Eskom.
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Arnot Power Station completed in 1975 was one of the first of the "six-pack" coal-fired power plants built during this period that Eskom was well known for.
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Construction work on the Medupi (pictured) and Kusile coal-fired power stations was started in the 2007-2019 period as part of Eskom's capacity expansion program following the energy crisis.
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Eskom Generation's pilot wind farm facility at Klipheuwel in the Western Cape, South Africa.
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Eskom executives including Phakamani Hadebe (CEO), front row second from the left, and Jan Oberholzer (CTO), front row far left, at a 2019 public forum in Cape Town on Eskom's financial situation.
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1923
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