Billions for nuclear power

South Africa is planning to spend R400-billion on building its nuclear electricity-generating capacity, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said.

Briefing the media at the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, COP17, in Durban, Peters said the total cost did not matter as long as it benefited the country.

"Our cost estimate is R400-billion but we believe whatever is spent must benefit South Africans."

Peters was responding to a question on whether reports were correct that the government was planning to spend R1-trillion on nuclear power expansion - four times the global rate.

She said the 20-year integrated resource plan for electricity generation envisaged an energy mix that included 23% coming from nuclear power stations .

"The [integrated resource plan] seeks to have an energy mix whereby 42% of all new capacity is from renewable sources, followed by 23% from nuclear, 15% from coal, 9% from liquid fuels, 6% from natural gas and 6% from imported hydro [power]," she said.

Investec and the European Investment Bank have agreed to set up a à 100-million (about R1.09-billion) renewable-energy fund in South Africa, the investment company said.

"This will promote clean energy generation and energy efficiency in South Africa in line with the government's recent Green Economy Accord," Investec said.

Investec and the European Investment Bank are equal partners in the fund, with each investing about R546-million.

Investec consultant Fazel Moosa said the company would be responsible for selecting the projects in which to invest.