Cape Town - Government is in the process of procuring 2 500 megawatts (MW) of nuclear power amid the country’s electricity crisis, Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa told the media on Tuesday.
Ramokgopa said the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) was looking to release requests for proposals for nuclear power by March 2024. This comes after the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) considered the DMRE report to the regulator addressing suspensive conditions in July 2023, which took into account various factors before the go-ahead could be issued.
“I am happy to indicate that Nersa considered the DMRE submission and concluded that the suspensive conditions had been satisfactorily addressed. We are triggering what is essentially a procurement process. We are going out to ensure that we are able to get that additional 2 500MW of nuclear capacity to ensure that we are able to meet issues of national security and energy sovereignty,” said Ramokgopa.
South Africa only generates about 6% of its electricity from nuclear energy, generated at the Koeberg Power Station with 2 units. Koeberg has been in operation for about 40 years and produces 980MW.
“Now we are in the period of extension of the life of Koeberg. We want to secure another 20 years of life for Koeberg. Unit 1 had gone out to meet the regulatory requirements for purposes of meeting the conditions for extension of life. After a significant amount of delays of about four months, Unit 1 is running on full load. We are expecting that by August of next year, Unit 2 should come back.”
He said Eskom’s current power station fleet is ageing and that South Africa would have to generate additional sources of energy.
“Nuclear gives us a significant and important platform to be able to ensure that we are able to secure an energy future for ourselves and energy sovereignty for ourselves,” said Ramokgopa.
Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI) executive director, Francesca de Gasparis, said the announcement had been met with disbelief by civil society.
“All the independent modelling shows that nuclear energy is neither affordable nor needed in our energy mix now or in the future.
“We know electricity base load does not need nuclear energy and in the absence of a finalised and fully reviewed IRP2023, today’s announcement by the government seems to be motivated by greed, not need.
During the question time this morning, queries about the true costs associated with nuclear energy were met with non-answers,” said De Gasparis