President Jacob Zuma on Sunday officially opened Unit 6 of the Medupi Power Station in Lephale‚ Limpopo‚ which will add 794 megawatts to the national grid.

The Medupi Power Station‚ the construction of which started in May 2007‚ is the largest coal-fired power station in the country and will also become the world’s largest dry-cooled coal-fired power station.

It is also the first baseload station to be built in 20 years by Eskom‚ after Majuba Power Station.

Zuma said the country had waited a long time to witness some energy flowing from the station‚ but its impact was already being felt countrywide.

“Pressure is being alleviated on the national electricity system to prevent or minimise load shedding.

“This is a very important milestone in Eskom’s growth trajectory towards the 4800 megawatt capacity that must be achieved at the completion of the other five units‚” Zuma said.

Medupi’s megawatt contribution‚ along with the 1‚800 megawatts that was supplied by independent power producers‚ would further strengthen the country’s electricity supply and stimulate the economy‚ he added.

“This will help achieve the projection made with regard to Medupi‚ that at its completion‚ it will directly grow South Africa’s GDP by approximately 0.35% per year.”

He said the country had experienced serious energy challenges in recent times‚ which not only caused enormous inconvenience to all South Africans‚ but was also a serious impediment to economic growth.

“The difficult economic global conditions and our energy shortage are a serious challenge for the South African economy. Today we are gathered to say to our people‚ there is light at the end of the tunnel‚” Zuma stated.

The coming onto stream of Unit 6 had taken place at a most opportune moment for the country‚ during a difficult global and domestic economic climate‚ he added.

“The GDP growth has contracted by 1.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2015 after growing by 1.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2015. Growth contracted in all sectors except for personal services and general government services.

“Challenges in the energy sector‚ drought conditions and weak domestic demand all contributed to the contraction in the GDP growth in the second quarter.

“The energy shortage is a serious obstacle to growth. In this regard‚ the opening of Unit 6 is a significant achievement for the country. We are pleased that Eskom now fully appreciates the need to move with speed to ensure that there are no further delays at Medupi.”

He added that the government was continuing to implement measures that would remove all binding constraints in the economy.

“Our major intervention is the Nine Point Plan that was announced in the State of the Nation Address this year. I provided an update recently to the nation on the implementation of the plan‚ which is informed by the National Development Plan.

“The plan is aimed at removing constraints and to boost business and consumer confidence‚ investment and economic growth.

“The Plan comprises the following;

a.Revitalisation of the agriculture and the agro-processing value-chain;

b.Advancing beneficiation (adding value to our mineral wealth);

c.More effective implementation of a higher impact Industrial Policy Action Plan;

d.Unlocking the potential of SMME‚ co-operatives‚ township and rural enterprise;

e.Resolving the energy challenge;

f.Stabilising the labour market;

g.Increasing private-sector investment;

h.Growing the Ocean Economy;

i.Cross-cutting Areas to Reform‚ Boost and Diversify the Economy which are the following;

i.Science‚ technology and innovation

ii.Water and sanitation

iii.Transport infrastructure

iv.Broadband rollout

v.State owned companies.

“We urge business and labour as well as the community sector to continue working with us in the implementation of this Plan‚” Zuma said.