NGO - WESSA (Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa)
NGO - EWT (Endangered Wildlife Trust)
Business - SAPP (Southern African Power Pool)
Government – Department of Minerals and Energy
Business / Academic - MRC (Medical Research Council)
Business - DBSA (Development Bank of South Africa)

Eskom’s strategic intent is to be the pre-eminent African energy and related services business of global stature. Eskom has 24 power stations with a nominal capacity of 42,011 megawatts has 316,634 kilometres of power lines spanning the entire country and transporting power to neighbouring countries. Eskom supplies approximately 95% of the country´s electricity requirements, which equals more than half of the electricity generated on the African continent. Further, it is a responsible corporate citizen integrating environmental sustainability and socio-economic improvement into its business and supports the development of an interconnected African grid to encourage co-operation whilst accelerating economic growth in the region. Considering its reach and intent, Eskom is involved in several projects that illustrate energy for sustainable development. This video will feature short inserts of these different projects in a dynamic way.

The video will include projects on:

- Electrification in South Africa

- Research and Development with respect to Renewable energy technologies (solar and wind)

- Bird fatality mitigation on transmission lines

- Demand side management programmes (energy efficiency)

- The Southern African Power pool (a partnership to ensure energy access in Southern Africa)

- Dry cooling technology at our Power Stations (water savings)

- African Legacy projects - energy access and the link to NEPAD

- HIV/AIDS vaccine research

Thus, the key messages will include the responsible use of resources such as coal, the role that electrification has played in South Africa and the research and development of Renewable Energy technologies.

Since the inception of Eskom’s electrification programme in 1991, a total of 2,601,219 homes have been electrified. Eskom undertook to electrify an additional 600 000 homes between 2000 and 2002.

The provision of electricity leads to job creation and a subsequent rise in disposable income in a community. Electrification of schools and houses is highly likely to lead to increased education and productivity levels. The supply of electricity can lead to a decrease in the harvesting of firewood with resultant biodiversity implications. A decrease in respiratory disease will result due to the reduction of domestic fuel burning. The relative efficiency of using electricity will reduce the overall emission of pollutants.

To bring affordable electricity to communities, Eskom was able to reduce the cost per connection through a comprehensive program that included more extensive community information programs and the development of a prepayment meter. To counter the problem of costs associated with greater distances from the established grid, there are new initiatives to promote the use of non-grid energy such as solar power.

Programmes such as the Bird fatality mitigation devices have a two fold advantage – they reduce bird fatalities and they reduce power outages as a result of bird interactions with the power lines.

Eskom contributes to the national and international fight against HIV/AIDS, and has joined forces with other corporate organisations in this fight, through the SA Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS and the Global Business Council. Eskom also participates in the leadership of the South African Development Community utilities’ HIV/AIDS committee. The HIV/AIDS programme has proven vital to the social well being of Eskom’s employees and that is now extending to the communities.

Eskom’s programmes and projects are audited internally by its technical audit department and the annual reports are verified externally by KPMG South Africa. Contact details for KPMG: Shireen Naidoo, +27 31 327 6121.

Considering this video is a collage of projects, the results are best described by the achievements.

Eskom committed R30 million to the SAAVI vaccine development research, of which R7,5 million was paid during 2001 (2000: R15 million) through the Eskom Development Foundation, with the balance payable in 2002.

Eskom considers the implementation of the HIV/AIDS response strategy to be a focus area for the business and, as a result, it was included as a key measure in the human resources sustainability index.

Other achievements:

- Connected three-millionth customer in the year 2001

- Supplies 48% of electricity consumed in Africa

- Awarded the Financial Times Global Power Company of the Year 2001 Award in recognition of exhibiting technical excellence in plant production, maintenance and operation

- Received the international HIV/AIDS Award from the Global Business Council for comprehensively dealing with the scourge of HIV and AIDS

- Eskom was rated by the international rating agency Moody, above the sovereign rating

- Processes are in place and have been developed that support black and women enterprise development

- Implemented employment equity plan and exceeded targets for 2001

- Contributed over R48 million to the social progress of the community

Eskom’s award winning HIV/AIDS employee programme is already being replicated by other South African companies and it has won international recognition.

Eskom’s drive is to see access to energy a reality for Africa and is therefore committed to seeing the electrification programme extended in Africa.

To this end, Eskom has proposed the establishment of an “African Energy Fund” to assist in realizing projects aligned with the NEPAD goals in the area of energy and electricity infrastructure projects. The proposed fund combines both foreign direct investment and overseas donor assistance in a unique combination. With this combination, it is possible to reduce the perceived African risk to private investors and increase the effectiveness of donor funding by committing those investors to pursuing longer value chain projects. It is anticipated that the Fund can become a leading example of the public-private partnership vehicles envisaged by the NEPAD framework document.

The intention of this initiative is to assist in the creation of economic sustainability, so that, while the focus is on energy, the intention is to seek integrated projects, which cover a longer value chain.

Access to energy is a crucial issue for Africa. Millions of people lack basic electricity and energy services. Eskom´s projects aim to address these needs. This in itself inspires people to live better lives – to know that there is a future in terms of education, starting a business, fighting the scourge of HIV/AIDS, all the while being assured of economic development, social progress and environmental protection. The projects are innovative in that it meets the needs of people where they are. These projects address needs in communities and the communities themselves are involved. This provides a platform by which other community projects can be initiated.

Eskom is committed to sustain projects by ensuring that they are partnership focused. The challenge of this approach includes reaching a common understanding with other stakeholders. This is achieved by ensuring that a relationship is developed with the stakeholders – respecting each other’s differences and finding that common ground to ensure project success. The projects are thus focused in specific areas. Eskom’s partnerships represented in the video include:

WESSA (Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa)

EWT (Endangered Wildlife Trust)

SAPP (Southern African Power Pool)

Government – Department of Minerals and Energy

MRC (Medical Research Council)

DBSA (Development Bank of South Africa)

The objective of the Eskom partnership with the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa is to involve young South Africans in all aspects of energy and the environment, particularly those of specific interest to Eskom. The focus of the partnership is to encourage children to become aware of the environment by actively participating in a project which benefits their school or local community. The benefits of such an interaction include a contribution to environmental education in schools, improvement in the environment, increased public awareness of Eskom and its activities and a business contribution to Eskom by means of new ideas.

Eskom’s partnership with the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) was initiated in 1996. The partnership was initiated focused on efforts to manage interactions between birds and electrical infrastructure, but has recently been broadened to include additional issues of common interest.

Eskom is represented on the Environmental subcommittee of the Power Institute of East and Southern Africa (PIESA). PIESA primarily aims to develop the technological capacity in the region´s distribution network by promoting the spirit of resource sharing.

Eskom is a member of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), which comprises representatives from utilities from all southern African countries, and is actively involved in the Environmental subcommittee.

The SAPP aims to supply reliable and economical electricity to the consumers of each of the SAPP members, consistent with reasonable utilisation of resources and effect on the environment. In order to minimise costs, while maintaining reliability, the planning and operation of the various systems is carefully co-ordinated. Among the benefits will be reductions in required generating capacity and fuel costs, and improved use of hydroelectric energy.