South Africa’s plan to purchase 2,500 MW of energy from nuclear power has been approved by the South African National Energy Regulatory Agency (NERSA).

The approval means that the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) can now start preparing to purchase new nuclear power generation capacity. As Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe announced during the 2021 parliamentary budget vote, it intends to issue a "request for proposal" (RFP) at the end of the 2021-2022 period. The government press release stated that the procurement process should be completed in 2024, and the new capacity will come online in 2030, which is consistent with the decommissioning of coal-fired power generation facilities in South Africa.

The target of 2500 MW is consistent with the targets in the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), the country's 20-year plan to provide security of electricity supply from an inclusive energy mix at a speed and scale that South Africa can withstand. Jurg van Dyk, an energy expert in Johannesburg from Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law, welcomed the news. He said that after the previous procurement procedures were shelved by the court, South Africa's new nuclear power plan has been shelved since 2017.

“In 2017, the Western Cape High Court ruled that the government’s procurement of 9.6 GW of nuclear energy was illegal, and the procurement process and cooperation agreement signed with Russia was shelved.” He said, “Since then, Gwede Mantashe, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, NERSA has submitted nuclear energy procurement proposals, which have now been approved." "This decision will promote the energy structure envisaged by IRP 2019 and move away from coal-fired power generation. It has previously been hinted that small modular reactors can be considered. We expect the procurement will be in This is done on this basis, thus opening up the market for new nuclear technologies that have not yet appeared in the South African market." He said.

In June 2020, DMRE issued a "Request for Information" (RFI) to the market to test interest in new nuclear projects based on similar principles to the Independent Power Producer (IPP) program for renewable energy. DMRE stated that the response to this “shows market demand and feasibility”. The department also intends to follow the international best practices established by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), of which South Africa is a member.

Keywords: international engineering news, foreign engineering project information

South Africa’s state-owned power company Eskom has previously identified Thyspunt in the Eastern Cape as the country’s preferred location for its next nuclear power plant. According to local news reports, it is currently holding a public hearing as part of the licensing process, which will allow it to "deposit" the site for future use.Editor/Baohongying