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Cape Town - It’s a tough environment in which to find funding for new nuclear projects, said Anurag Gupta, director and global sector head for power at KPMG.
Gupta, who was moderating a nuclear discussion session, which formed part of the African Utility Week in Cape Town, was making a few introductory remarks ahead of the discussion.
“It’s normal for overruns to occur in build projects, but a cost overrun for a nuclear build programme of 10% could easily bankrupt a country,” he said.
Nuclear build projects pose several risks for potential investors, one of which is regulatory uncertainty in terms of licencing, planning and decommissioning of the nuclear power plants.
On the other hand can nuclear build projects be attractive when a country can show investors that a particular programme is worthwhile to participate in, when there’s supporting infrastructure, such as upgrades to port facilities, and reliable road and transport networks; and clear cross-party support for the programme (such as in the UK), Gupta concluded.
During discussion time, Anthonie Cilliers from the Engineering Programme at North West University said there was still disagreement in South Africa about whether the country needed nuclear energy.
“Lots of people seem to think we can go without it. Financing then becomes difficult.”
Cilliers said it’s important for government to send out the request for proposal to the various vendors. Vast preparatory work has been done, such as the environmental impact assessment process and licence applications for the two sites.
In March this year, Eskom submitted site applications for Thyspunt in the Eastern Cape near Oyster Bay and St Francis Bay and Duynefontein near the existing nuclear power plant in Koeberg.
