South Africa defers decision on new nuclear power plant

• 2 months ago (2024-08-20)
• David Flin

Africa 319 Nuclear 658

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The South African Government will defer procurement of a new 2500 MW new nuclear power plant as there was insufficient public consultation and the conditions laid down in the Electricity Regulatory Act had not been met. The announcement was made by Kogosientsho Ramokgopa, South Africa’s Electricity and Energy Minister.

The plan had been challenged in court by the Democratic Alliance (DA), the political party which is now part of the coalition government, and two NGOs, South Africa Faith Communities Environment Institute (SAFCEI) and Earth Africa. The case was due to be heard in October.

Ramokgopa said that the decision to delay procurement was to preserve “the integrity of the nuclear procurement process.” He said that the government had to show that the nuclear power station was affordable, that technological developments had been taken into account, and that the 2500 MW nuclear plant was rational, and that these conditions had been met.

However, he agreed with SAFCEI and Earth Africa that there should have been further public consultation, and he wants to ensure that is carried out before proceeding with the project.

Ramokgopa said that nuclear power is an essential element of South Africa’s energy future. “Increased nuclear generation capacity, in addition to what we have at Koeberg, is going to happen… What we really want to protect here is the integrity of the process and that is why we are taking one step back to allow us to take two steps and multiple steps going forward.”