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S. Africa gets boost in power supply

Xinhua, September 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Africa's power utility Eskom on Thursday synchronized unit 5 at Medupi Power Station, which will add an additional 800 megawatts (MW) to the national grid.

The move is seen as a milestone to ensure stably power supply in the country, which has been hard hit by power shortages that led to constant blackouts over the past year.

It is expected that the unit 5 will become commercially operational by March 2018.

State-owned Eskom provides more that 95 percent of the electricity consumed in South Africa. Lynne Brown, Minister of Public Enterprises, congratulated the company on tiding over difficult times.

This year Eskom announced a net profit (after tax) for the 2015/2016 financial period of 4.6 billion rand (about 331 million U.S. dollars).

"This has contributed to operational and financial sustainability for the company, while the grid had stabilized to such an extent that we have a reliable electricity supply for South Africa," Brown said.

This year South Africa has seen Ingula Power Pump station's unit 3 and 4 becoming commercially operational, while Medupi's unit 6 led the way in the second half of 2015. Enditem