The Nuclear Energy Corp. of South Africa (Necsa) continues its nuclear energy promotions in order to include nuclear into the country’s energy mix.
At the Integrated Resource Plan 2010 held in Pretoria on June 7, Necsa senior manager for nuclear fuel cycle Andrew Linington said that including nuclear power is the only way South Africa can reach its ambitious target of reducing carbon emissions by 34% below the business-as-usual growth by 2025. He added that renewable energy technologies like wind and solar would never be a reliable and dependable baseload energy supply. “Any interruption in generation capacity will be catastrophic for South Africa’s economy.”
While nuclear power is seen as more reliable and cost efficient compared to coal and gas-fired plants, the initial costs to get a single plant built and operating are enormous. The construction costs of nuclear plants are significantly higher than for coal or gas-fired plants because special materials, sophisticated technology, safety measures, and back-up control equipment must be implemented. In addition, long construction periods – as with any project – can hike up the price tag for a plant to outrageous levels.
South Africa’s state-owned utility Eskom was looking to start the construction of a second nuclear power plant in mid-2008. However, Eskom pushed back the deadline and instead announced that bids for the construction of its nuclear power plant would be finalized during Q3 or Q4 2008. The utility claimed that the plant would generate up to 20,000 MW of nuclear power by 2025, but in December 2008, it announced that the entire project would be shelved after it could not acquire the $12 billion start-up capital.
In order to ensure power generation in a reliable, efficient, and economical means, diversifying the mix including fossil fuels, renewable energy, and alternative energy. However, the cost of nuclear power despite its cost efficiency once in production, will still hinder many African nations from being able to go full-throttle into the sector.
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