The immediate cash flow constraints facing struggling South African power utility Eskom are threatening to jeopardise the renewal of several short-term power purchase agreements, which currently collectively contribute 704 MW to the supply-stressed grid.

The Cabinet-backed war room has urged the utility to roll over the contracts, which are set to expire on March 31.

However, with that deadline looming, the cash flow issues had not yet been resolved, outgoing Eskom executive Steve Lennon revealed on Wednesday.

Responding to questions posed at a Fossil Fuel Foundation conference, Lennon said it was not yet clear whether the cash flow issue could be resolved in the coming few days.

He stressed that, while the funding for the short-term power purchases would form part of a tariff reopener that would be made to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, the immediate problem was Eskom's immediate shortage of cash to buy the power from generators in the industrial and agricultural sectors.