Eskom is a South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n electricity public utility

Public utility

A public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...

, established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) by the government of South Africa

Government of South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a constitutional democracy with a three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a nearly unique system that combines aspects of parliamentary and presidential systems. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa...

 in terms of the Electricity Act (1922). It was also known by its Afrikaans

Afrikaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

 name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). The two acronyms were combined in 1986 and the company is now known as Eskom. Eskom represents South Africa in the Southern African Power Pool

Southern African Power Pool

The Southern African Power Pool is a cooperation of the national electricity companies in Southern Africa under the auspecies of the Southern African Development Community . The members of SAPP have created common power grid between their countries and a common market for electricity in the SADC...

.

The utility is the largest producer of electricity in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, is among the top seven utilities in the world in terms of generation capacity and among the top nine in terms of sales.

Eskom operates a number of notable power station

Power station

A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....

s, including Kendal Power Station

Kendal Power Station

-Power generation:Power generation is done by six 686 MW units for a total installed capacity of 4,116 MW. Turbine Maximum Continuous Rating is 16.67%- See also :* Eskom* Fossil-fuel power plant* List of power stations in South Africa-External links:...

, and Koeberg nuclear power station

Koeberg nuclear power station

Koeberg nuclear power station is the only nuclear power station in South Africa and the entire African continent. It is located 30 km north of Cape Town, near Melkbosstrand on the west coast of South Africa. Koeberg is owned and operated by the country's only national electricity supplier, Eskom...

 in the Cape Province, the only nuclear power plant in Africa.