- South Africa will delay starting the procurement process for a new nuclear power station to allow for more consultation.
- Ramokgopa clarified that the government still wanted to expand its nuclear capacity beyond the 1,900 MW Koeberg plant outside Cape Town.
South Africa’s energy minister said on August 16 that, following legal challenges, it will delay starting the procurement process for a new nuclear power station to allow for more consultation.
The government said in December that it was preparing to request bids for an extra 2,500 megawatts (MW) of nuclear power. Still, the then-opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party and two non-governmental organisations launched legal challenges to block the procurement.
The DA is now part of the coalition government formed after the African National Congress lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in three decades in an election in May.
Announcing the delay to the nuclear procurement, Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa conceded there should have been greater public participation so far.
He said he had decided to withdraw a document in the government gazette that would have allowed the procurement to proceed. Officials will rework a report addressing conditions the energy regulator gave for its support for the procurement and consult the public again.
Ramokgopa clarified that the government still wanted to expand its nuclear capacity beyond the 1,900 MW Koeberg plant outside Cape Town at a pace and scale the country could afford. “Nuclear is part of the future, but it’s important that as we go out and procure, the procurement process must be able to stand the test of time,” the minister said.
He estimated the procurement process could be delayed by three to six months. Many South Africans are wary of the government’s nuclear ambitions after a court challenge thwarted a 9,600 MW deal with Russia initiated during Jacob Zuma’s scandal-plagued presidency in 2017.
Koeberg is the only operational nuclear power plant on the African continent. Last month, it was granted a 20-year life extension.