Current and Forthcoming Issues in the South African Electricity Sector

Kessides, Ioannis N. ; Bogetic, Zeljko ; Maurer, Luiz

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ASSET MANAGEMENT;    AVAILABILITY;    AVERAGE TARIFF;    BALANCE;    CAPACITY EXPANSION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-4197
RP-ID  :  WPS4197

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

One of the contentious issues inelectricity reform is whether there are significant gainsfrom restructuring systems that are moderately well run.South Africa's electricity system is a case in point.The sector's state-owned utility, Eskom, has beengenerating some of the lowest-priced electricity in theworld, has largely achieved revenue adequacy, and hasfinanced the bulk of the government's ambitiouselectrification program. Moreover, the key technicalperformance indicators of Eskom's generation plantshave reached world-class levels.Yet the sector isconfronted today with serious challenges.SouthAfrica's electricity system is currently facing a tightdemand/supply balance, and the distribution segment of theindustry is in serious financial trouble. This paperprovides a careful diagnostic assessment of the industry andidentifies a range of policy and restructuring options toimprove its performance. It suggests removing distributionfrom municipal control and privatizing it, calls forvertical and horizontal unbundling, and argues that thecost-benefit analysis of different structural options shouldfocus on investment incentives and not just currentoperating efficiency.