Climate financing and Eskom – bridging the gap from legacy to new debt

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South Africa has begun its decarbonisation journey in earnest after having garnered the support of the UK, France, Germany, the US and the EU to jumpstart the just energy transition towards a low-carbon economy and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Eskom is at the centre of this pivot as it seeks to decommission aging power plants (possibly at an accelerated pace) while investing in grid infrastructure expansion, renewable-energy projects and battery storage, as well as repurposing old power stations.
However, Eskom’s legacy debt remains a wild card, despite myriad proposals to solve its debt crisis made over the past three years. There is no neat solution in our view. Nevertheless, we think it is important to consider some of the more prominent ideas that have been put forward and unpack what this could mean for Eskom bondholders in the domestic and international credit markets.
Join us as we weigh up Eskom’s debt solutions, and likely funding needs, as the utility pursues a just energy transition.
16 Nov 2021 English South Africa Business · Investing

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