UPDATE 1-South Africa could give troubled Eskom more financial support

The highest levels of South Africa's government are considering a variety of additional financial support measures for struggling state power firm Eskom, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Wednesday. Eskom, which has implemented some of the most severe power cuts in several years this year, is battling for survival after a decade of steep decline during which its costs soared and electricity sales stagnated.

South Africa's government said in February that it would give Eskom a 69 billion rand ($4.9 billion) bailout over the next three years to help it service its 420 billion rand debt mountain. But energy experts say the bailout is insufficient to make Eskom financially sustainable in the long term, especially since South Africa's energy regulator awarded Eskom smaller tariff hikes than it asked for.

"A variety of options are before us, and serious consideration is being given to all of them at the highest levels of government," Gordhan told reporters at Eskom's Lethabo power station. "Once we have finessed the package, we will let you know either before the election (in May) or soon thereafter," Gordhan added.

Anton Eberhard, chairman of an Eskom task team appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, said his team was looking at some kind of debt relief for the utility, which supplies more than 90 percent of the power in Africa's most industrialised economy. Eberhard added: "Some kind of new innovative financing facility is something that the team is looking at, a blended finance facility which could involve a concessionary component."

($1 = 14.1816 rand) ($1 = 14.1634 rand) (Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)