South Africa's power company Eskom on Monday announced that a key new power plant would not go online at the end of the year as planned and the project would be delayed by at least six months, according to dpa. The Medupi power plant in the northern Limpopo province is seen as key to ensuring a steady supply of power in the country. Analysts have estimated that any delays at Medupi could force Eskom to enact load shedding programmes, or rolling blackouts. Investors have become increasingly jittery about the pace of infrastructure expansion in South Africa, worried that demand will outweigh supply. This could also prevent new investments in the country, Africa's largest economy. Eskom - which generates about 95 per cent of the country's electricity - blamed contractors and labour disputes. It would face a gap of up to 700 megawatts next year. One of the key contractors being blamed, Hitachi Power Africa, is part owned by Chancellor House, the investment arm of the governing African National Congress party. Since the end of Apartheid, South Africa has expanded electricity to many poor blacks who were off the grid during white-minority rule. The government says power penetration is now 85 per cent. In 2008, Eskom embarked on widespread load shedding as the grid came close to collapse. The utility has since embarked on programmes to upgrade its facilities. South Africa's key mining sector is an energy intensive industry.
