Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says nuclear power is the cheapest and most reliable energy mix that the country can benefit from.
Ramokgopa says Eskom has had over 40 years’ experience operating nuclear power station Koeberg in South Africa, incident free.
South Africa has only one nuclear power station in the country situated in Cape Town.
Currently, Koeberg is undergoing maintenance to extend its operating license and operating life by another 20 years.
Ramokgopa briefed the media in Pretoria this morning.
“What we know about nuclear is the cheapest, the safest and most reliable. And we are going this route. Neither side made a determination is that there’s significant amount of technological advancements that have happened in this space. So, it is important that we take notice of that and ensure that they were able to benefit from those technological advances,” adds Ramokgopa.
Ramokgopa says the new nuclear procurement determination is in the process of being gazetted.
He says the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has given the minister the go-ahead to proceed with the procurement process of the 2500 megawatts nuclear power that will form part of the additional generation capacity that is much needed in the country.
“The determination and Nersa’s concurrence will be gazetted. So, now we’re starting the process of gazetting. So, we’re going out to ensure that we are able to get that additional 2500 megawatts of nuclear capacity to ensure that we are able to meet the issues of national security and energy sovereignty.”
“So, this is a significant milestone because we know that historically in the recent past, the process was … now we are happy that we have been able to iron out the issues related to how the procurement process needs to unfold,” explains Ramokgopa.
The video below is the full address by the minister
