New deadline for nuclear plant

Johannesburg - South Africa, plagued by chronic power shortages, has set 2018 as an indicative date for when it wants its next nuclear plant to be operational, utility Eskom said on Tuesday.

State-owned Eskom, which operates Africa's sole nuclear power plant with a total capacity of 1 800 MW, cancelled plans to build a new facility at the end of last year, citing financial constraints.

The government has since taken the lead in developing the next power station, saying it wants to develop a local nuclear industry in partnership with a technology firm rather than adopt a commercial bidding process used by Eskom.

Both the government and Eskom have set the new timelines as part of a revised plan for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) which the utility submitted for public comment this week.

"All this is part of the government-led process: we have set indicative timelines, in line with the projected growth in electricity consumption ... but they are not cast in stone," Eskom spokesperson Fani Zulu said.

South Africa depends on coal for some 90 percent of its energy supply and the government has long identified nuclear as a way to diversify power supply to reduce its carbon footprint.

Construction for the first unit could begin in July 2012, with the first 4 000 MW plant to be operational by July 2018.

Two other facilities with the same capacity are planned to be operational by 2020 and 2022, respectively.

"We will have a firm timeline once we have signed contracts with those who will be constructing the plant ... and once the funding is in place," Zulu said.

He declined to say whether the government and Eskom would be able to source the funding needed to build the plants in the indicated timeframes.

The EIA proposal suggests three potential sites for the next plants - the western coast, where the existing plant is located, on the south-eastern coast near St Francis Bay and on the south-western coast near Pearly Beach.

- Reuters