Process to procure new nuclear power kicks off, but first unit to only come online in 2030s

Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the process to procure additional nuclear capacity will get under way now National Energy Regulator (Nersa) approval has been received, but South Africans will only enjoy the fruits of the project in the early 2030s when the first unit is commissioned.

Ramokgopa and executives from the department of mineral resources & energy (DMRE) provided an update at a media conference on Tuesday on the process to procure an additional 2,500MW nuclear power.

It comes months after the department confirmed it would forge ahead with the procurement of nuclear power and issue a request for proposals (RFP) for 2,500MW worth of new nuclear energy projects.

This will be in addition to the 1,800MW Eskom hopes to secure by extending the life of Koeberg nuclear power station in Cape Town by 20 years, according to BusinessLIVE.

Ramokgopa outlined the process to reach the procurement stage, explaining the three “suspensive conditions” that needed to be met. These include the need to “establish rationality behind the 2,500MW” by preparing a demand analysis to determine a load profile and for the nuclear power to be “procured through an engineering procurement and construction contract [EPC]”.

“All of those three suspensive conditions have now been satisfied and as a result we are now able to proceed with this programme. DMR submitted a report to the regulator [Nersa], addressing these suspensive conditions in July,” he said.

“Of course, Nersa still had an obligation to satisfy itself if the response from the DMRE to the suspensive conditions was sufficient for Nersa to consider giving this process the green light and I am happy to indicate that on August 30, Nersa considered the DMRE's submission ... and concluded that the suspensive conditions had been satisfactorily addressed.

“Essentially, what Nersa then said was that 'we're giving you the go-ahead to proceed' and Nersa then issued a formal concurrence on September 2. So to give legal effect to the ministerial determination for the procurement of new nuclear capacity of August 2020, the determination and Nersa's concurrence will be gazetted. So now we're starting the process of gazetting. So we're triggering now, as I stand before you, essentially a procurement process.”

Ramokgopa hailed this as a “significant milestone”, given the historical controversy around the process, and said it cements South Africa's “unassailable position” as a leader on the continent in relation to nuclear generation capacity.

He said nuclear, which now consists of two units at Koeberg, constitutes 5% of total generation capacity.

Deputy director-general for nuclear Zizamele Mbambo said the department was not in a position to detail the “shape, form and format” of the RFP at this stage. He was, however, able to provide details on when they hoped to commission the first unit.

“Based on our assessment as a team, having done the request for information [in 2020] as I have alluded to, we found that the ideal time by which to start commissioning the first unit ... is around 2032 to 2033.

“Remember that we are dealing here, as the minister has indicated, with a long-term project which requires that you start early so that you are optimising on time. The nuclear project ... in the minimum, it takes about 10-12 years to be able to commission the power plant into the grid.”

TimesLIVE