South Africa’s energy regulator has approved a plan published by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe in August last year to procure 2 500 MW in new generation capacity from nuclear power.
The National Energy Regulator of SA’s head of communications, Charles Hlebela, confirmed the decision was taken at a meeting on Thursday.
“Nersa is in the process of communicating the decision with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy,” said Hlebela. The reasons for the decision would be published after “all internal regulatory processes have been completed”.
The decision means that South Africa’s revived nuclear procurement programme can go ahead. The country’s previous plan to procure 9 600 MW of nuclear power from a fleet of new plants was scuppered by a court ruling in 2017.
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As Fin24 previously reported, the Department of Energy is planning to double South Africa’s nuclear power capacity by adding around 2 500 MW of new energy to the grid sometime after 2030.
Power utility Eskom, meanwhile, is currently seeking to have Thyspunt, a rocky stretch of coast near St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape, declared a suitable location for a nuclear facility.
No procurement for a new nuclear power station has begun, however. Eskom has said the Thyspunt may be banked as a “strategic reserve” for future use.
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