Government to commence with preparations of Nuclear Build Programme
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has confirmed that it’s all systems go for the country’s Nuclear Build Programme, which will have a capacity of 2 500MW.
This after the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) gave its approval on 26 August 2021 with regards the Ministerial Determination in terms of section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act, 2006 (Act No. 4 of 2006.
The Department released a statement on Friday evening stating that the massive programme would done at a “scale and pace” that the country can afford.
Spokesperson, Nathi Shabangu says the department aims to complete the procurement process in 2024.
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“The Department aims to complete the procurement of the 2 500MW nuclear programme in 2024 in line with the five-year Strategic Plan and the Medium-Term Strategic Framework to ensure security of energy supply.”
In June 2020, the Department issued a Request for Information (RFI) to test the market for the successful implementation of the Nuclear New Build Programme (NNBP).
“The timing of the procurement is informed amongst others by the planned decommissioning of the coal power plant fleet (24 100MW) post 2030 which would introduce instabilities to the national electricity grid. In implementing the NNBP, the Department is guided by international best practice and the milestone approach of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of which South Africa is a member state. The procurement of the 2 500MW NNBP in 2024 provides adequate time for construction, commissioning, and connection to the electricity grid of this new capacity to ensure continued security of supply.”
