SA closer to new nuclear plants
Building notice published
The South African government's claims that nuclear energy is the "cheapest" are widely contested.
Carol Paton – South Africa’s minister of electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa took another step closer to building new nuclear energy plants in the country on Friday by gazetting a notice under the Electricity Regulation Act (ERA) that the government intends to procure 2 500 MW of nuclear energy.
A determination under the ERA is an essential first legal step to procuring new energy.
Eskom will be the buyer of the electricity, and the department of mineral resources and energy (DMRE) will be the government department that manages the procurement and construction of the plant, according to Friday's notice.
Bias
The ANC government has a long-standing bias towards nuclear power - despite the construction costs being far higher than other technologies. The 2 500 MW of nuclear energy was included in the previous Integrated Resource Plan of 2019, even though there was no case for it either from a capacity or a cost point of view.
It is also written into the new IRP 2023, which is not yet finalised and is under consultation.
DA MP Kevin Mileham said on Monday that he believed the determination was unprocedural and unlawful.
This is because, in September 2021, the National Electricity Regulator of SA (Nersa) set pre-conditions for the procurement, which Mileham says have not been met.
Nersa must concur with the executive arm of government before making a determination. While Nersa did concur in September 2021, it set pre-conditions.
Among the most important of these was that the DMRE must "establish the rationality of nuclear power" by doing "a demand analysis aimed at determining the envisaged load profile post-2030, to derive the generation mix that will be needed to meet the envisaged demand."
‘Shaky legal ground’
Mileham says a demand analysis has not been done, and the government is on shaky legal ground, just as it was in 2017 when a court barred a massive nuclear procurement because proper procedures had not been followed.
In December, Ramokgopa described nuclear energy as "the cheapest, safest, and most reliable" form of energy.
But while nuclear energy is among the cheapest forms of energy generation once it is built, nuclear plants' construction costs mean that it is the most expensive of all technologies, except diesel-fired turbines, when the building cost is considered. – Fin24
A determination under the ERA is an essential first legal step to procuring new energy.
Eskom will be the buyer of the electricity, and the department of mineral resources and energy (DMRE) will be the government department that manages the procurement and construction of the plant, according to Friday's notice.
Bias
The ANC government has a long-standing bias towards nuclear power - despite the construction costs being far higher than other technologies. The 2 500 MW of nuclear energy was included in the previous Integrated Resource Plan of 2019, even though there was no case for it either from a capacity or a cost point of view.
It is also written into the new IRP 2023, which is not yet finalised and is under consultation.
DA MP Kevin Mileham said on Monday that he believed the determination was unprocedural and unlawful.
This is because, in September 2021, the National Electricity Regulator of SA (Nersa) set pre-conditions for the procurement, which Mileham says have not been met.
Nersa must concur with the executive arm of government before making a determination. While Nersa did concur in September 2021, it set pre-conditions.
Among the most important of these was that the DMRE must "establish the rationality of nuclear power" by doing "a demand analysis aimed at determining the envisaged load profile post-2030, to derive the generation mix that will be needed to meet the envisaged demand."
‘Shaky legal ground’
Mileham says a demand analysis has not been done, and the government is on shaky legal ground, just as it was in 2017 when a court barred a massive nuclear procurement because proper procedures had not been followed.
In December, Ramokgopa described nuclear energy as "the cheapest, safest, and most reliable" form of energy.
But while nuclear energy is among the cheapest forms of energy generation once it is built, nuclear plants' construction costs mean that it is the most expensive of all technologies, except diesel-fired turbines, when the building cost is considered. – Fin24
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