JOHANNESBURG, Nov 23 (Reuters) – South Africa’s energy regulator on Monday invited the public to comment on a government plan to procure new nuclear capacity to come online after 2030.
People can submit written comments to the watchdog – Nersa – by Feb.
5, after which the regulator will hold public hearings before deciding whether to support the government’s proposal to procure 2,500 megawatts (MW) of additional nuclear capacity.
If everything goes according to plan, the regulator could publish its decision in May next year, Nersa spokesman Charles Hlebela told Reuters.
“However, efforts will be made to compress the timelines as far as possible,” he added.
Recurring power outages caused by breakdowns at state utility Eskom’s coal-fired power stations are one of the main obstacles to growth in South Africa.
South Africa has the only operational nuclear power station in Africa, a 1,900 MW facility near Cape Town that was built under apartheid and is run by Eskom.
But some civil society groups and economists are sceptical about the government’s intention to add more nuclear capacity, seeing it as a costly option when public finances are hugely stretched by the coronavirus crisis.
Three years ago, activists blocked a massive 9,600 MW nuclear expansion project under former President Jacob Zuma that some believed was a conduit for corruption. Zuma denied the Sikshashree project was corrupt.
A draft ministerial determination published by Nersa on Monday said the generator of the new nuclear capacity would be “either Eskom Holdings, or any other organ of state, or in partnership with any other juristic person (entity)”.
(Reporting by Alexander Winning; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Jane Merriman)
