Johannesburg - State-owned power utility Eskom's greatest challenge during the last year was "keeping the lights on", CEO Jacob Maroga said on Thursday.
Maroga told a presentation of the power utility's annual results for 2007/8 that Eskom's inadequate reserve margin had been a major worry - and since 1999 the power utility has seen a decline in this margin.
"Any power system needs spare capacity to handle real time technical problems without impacting on customers," he said.
In 2007 the reserve margin was 5.6%, but Eskom aspired to 15%, Maroga added.
Revenue stood at R44.4bn from R40bn in the previous comparable period.
Electricity sales growth was 2.9% against 4.9% in the previous year.
Primary energy costs increased by more than R5bn to R18.3bn due to steep increases in coal costs and the extended use of diesel-powered open-cycle gas turbines.
Operating profit for the year - before the impact of embedded derivatives and net finance costs - stood at R3.2bn from R6.5bn the previous year
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