Johnathan Paoli
Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the government will begin the process of procuring 2 500MW of new nuclear energy to come on stream between 2032 and 2033.
Speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday, Ramokgopa said all the regulatory requirements had now been met with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) giving them the green light to forge ahead with the process
SA’s only nuclear power station, Koeberg, has a capacity of around 1 840 MW.
Ramokgopa said the government has yet to decide if it will build large reactors similar to those at conventional nuclear power stations or if small modular reactors, which have recently been commercialised, will be more appropriate, and that the construction process was expected to take 10 to 15 years.
The minister said that the case for more nuclear power was compelling because SA needed additional generation capacity, and the Eskom fleet was aging, and that nuclear energy was the “cheapest and cleanest” energy and would provide the baseload power that renewable energy needs for stability.
This is in line with Nersa’s concurrence with a procurement determination published in 2020.
Nersa said that its concurrence, was conditional on the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) meeting several conditions, including establishing through a demand and generation profile analysis, the rationality of adding 2500 MW of nuclear energy, and confirmation that engineering, procurement and construction contract principles would be used during the procurement phase.
Ramokgopa said that the DMRE made a submission to Nersa in July this year, outlining how it had gone about meeting the conditions and that the regulator had considered the submission in August before concurring with the determination.
In addition, the minister said that the government had the intention to move ahead with an open tender for new nuclear energy, despite the fact that the government has previously stated that technology could not play an effective role in reducing or engaging the load shedding crisis currently gripping the country.
“This is a significant milestone. It cements our unassailable position as a country as a leader on the continent in relation to nuclear generation capacity,” Ramokgopa said.
Zizamele Mbambo, deputy director general of nuclear energy in the DMRE said the procurement would be in line with the Constitution and be “open, transparent, and cost-effective.”
Previously, under the Zuma administration, Mbambo attempted to run a “closed tender process” which was designed to engineer an exclusive arrangement with Russian state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom.
However, the agreement with Rosatom was set aside by a court judgment after environmental activists litigated against it.
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