WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2010-04-06 Time: 07:00:01 Posted By: News Poster
By Siseko Njobeni
Johannesburg – ESKOM and BHP Billiton would amend their controversial long-term agreements for the supply of power to BHP Billiton’s Mozal smelter in Mozambique and its Hillside and Bayside smelters in SA, Eskom said yesterday.
Eskom and BHP Billiton have been renegotiating the contracts as part of Eskom’s review of the contracts it entered into when SA had surplus power. Eskom says the contracts were intended to stimulate economic development in SA and southern Africa.
Faced with a shortage of funds for its R385bn capital programme and constrained power supply, Eskom has been taking a second look at long-term contracts. The review last year resulted in scrapping of plans for an aluminium smelter at Coega after Eskom and Rio Tinto Alcan terminated a power supply agreement for the smelter.
The renegotiation of the BHP Billiton contract will see Eskom move away from commodity and foreign currency-linked pricing practices that proved costly for Eskom in the past financial year. These contracts were an albatross around Eskom’s neck.
Eskom posted a R9,7bn loss for the year to March, mainly because of the fair-value loss on embedded derivatives associated with the aluminium smelter power supply agreements. In terms of the contracts, BHP Billiton paid less for electricity when the aluminium price fell. So the sharp fall in the price of aluminium in the past financial year was a big contributor to the loss.
Eskom said yesterday it had agreed with BHP Billiton to amend the contracts (negotiated pricing agreements) for the supply of electricity to the smelters. Eskom interim executive chairman Mpho Makwana said: “This is a historic step in the right direction for Eskom and the country. These agreements were concluded in a period of excess capacity, and changes in the current environment have required that we adopt a different approach.”
Eskom said it was confident the final agreements would be signed by the third quarter.
The agreement required the approval of the National Energy Regulator of SA, Eskom said.
It was not immediately clear how the renegotiated contracts would affect BHP Billiton. Attempts to get its comment yesterday were not successful.
The lure of cheap electricity must have played a key role in BHP Billiton’s investment decision. Makwana said yesterday BHP Billiton participated in the talks on the contracts “willingly”.
Eskom has come under fire for supplying power to BHP Billiton at cheaper prices. Eskom and the government have so far declined to reveal details of the contracts, citing confidentiality.
Failure to renegotiate the contracts was one reason why the Eskom board lost confidence in former CE Jacob Maroga, according to court papers. Makwana said in an affidavit Maroga was told to address the losses inherent in the long-term electricity supply contracts, and negotiate the contracts with aluminium producers at four board meetings. He failed to present measures to curb the losses.
Original Source: 
Original date published: 6 April 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201004060075.html?viewall=1