Nuclear Vendor 'Parades' Mark Pre-Procurement Phase for South Africa's 9,600-Megawatt Plan

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The office of South Africa President Jacob Zuma announced this week a milestone in the country's plan to build a new fleet of nuclear power stations.

It said the stage was now set to prepare for the procurement process that would be in line with the country's legislation and policies. The procurement process will now be designed and launched after talks with the U.S., South Korea, Russia, France, Japan and China.

Intergovernmental framework agreements had been signed with Russia, France, China, South Korea and the U.S. over the past two months amid nuclear vendor "parade" workshops that the presidency spokesman said were a significant milestone in the pre-procurement phase of the program. The nuclear vendor parade allows vendors to present their nuclear technology offerings relative to the overall build supply chain.

The nuclear build program plans an additional 9,600 megawatts (MW) for the national grid by 2030, at an investment of about $90 billion (SAR 1 trillion), at current exchange rates.

Although the announcement from the president's office indicates that it seems confident on the progress of the build program, there are hurdles to clear before the finishing line. The country is going through a phase of nationwide rolling load shedding as its ageing thermal coal-fed fleet requires more unplanned maintenance outages, and the two mega thermal projects that are under construction--Medupi and Kusile--have missed their initial commissioning dates by three years. South African public utility Eskom's (Sunninghill, South Africa) Medupi and Kusile projects are each valued at $4.8 billion.

Apart from mixed lobbies on the desirability of nuclear power, it appears that a number of required steps, such as the overview of the project by the national treasury, have not taken place. Political opposition to the way the project is being handled from the presidency is motivated by the fact that a number of nation mega-projects have, in the past, lent themselves to financial leakage and corruption.

It seems that Zuma is determined to see a nuclear power fleet as part of his legacy to future generations. There is still a long way to go for that wish to come true.

For related information see September 25, 2014, article - Surprise Visit to Russia by South African President Prompts Nuclear Power Concerns, and December 2, 2014, article - South Africa's Eskom Battles Murphy's Law at Mega Projects.

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