Power utility Eskom on Wednesday denied that it was halting all new construction projects bigger than a residential home for the next four to six months.

"Eskom is not stopping any developments," the utility said in a statement, following the release of reports that new townhouse complexes, petrol stations, factories and all other construction projects where electricity provision needs to be obtained from Eskom in advance would be delayed.

"All those developments that have already applied and have quotations will be honoured – Gautrain and the 2010 World Cup are projects that have already been approved and are thus not affected," Eskom said.

However, in clarifying the process with regard to new developments, the utility confirmed that it would take it between four to six months to process the application and give the applicant a quote.

It said this would apply to all developments for buildings requiring above 100kVA.

At the same time, Eskom said it was engaged in a number of projects to increase its supply capacity in addition to its capital investment programme.

These include co-generation, demand side management and power buy-back.

"This is with the aim of expediting the process of ensuring supply to new development," Eskom assured.

Source: I-Net Bridge