Share

Molefe: No nuclear by 2035 could mean another power crunch

Cape Town – If South Africa doesn’t have nuclear power by 2035, the country will be in the same position as in 2008 when there was a serious shortage of power supply, Eskom CEO Brian Molefe said on Wednesday.

Molefe was part of an Eskom delegation who briefed Parliament on the power utility’s tariff increase for 2016/17 and its amended pricing structure for municipalities.

He was responding to a question from an MP, who asked him to elaborate on the cost slippage and delays of Eskom’s build programmes.

Molefe said one of the biggest reasons for the Medupi delays was because Eskom hadn’t heed warnings in 1998 that the country would need new power stations by 2008. “So ten years later, we had that knee-jerk reaction where we very quickly had to make plans for new power stations.

"We took plans from other power stations and adapted it, and changes were happening all the time that led to cost runaways and delays,” Molefe said.

He emphasised that South Africa will need nuclear energy to supply electricity beyond 2030. "If we continue with the bickering instead of doing something, we’ll be in the same position in 2035 as we were in 2008. I say this because of bitter experience.”

Regarding Medupi, Molefe said “tremendous progress” has been made with the build programme at the power station. Unit 6 has already been in operation for some time, and unit 5 has been synchronised to the electricity grid.

“It’s currently not for commercial use, but we’re confident it will be in commercial operation by February of 2017 – so we’re running ahead of our deadline of the end of 2017.” 

Read Fin24's top stories trending on Twitter:
We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.97
-0.3%
Rand - Pound
23.97
-0.3%
Rand - Euro
20.51
-0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.36
-0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.4%
Platinum
906.75
+1.1%
Palladium
1,015.63
+1.4%
Gold
2,208.55
+0.6%
Silver
24.60
-0.2%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,222
+0.8%
All Share
74,420
+0.7%
Resource 10
56,938
+2.3%
Industrial 25
103,869
+0.6%
Financial 15
16,500
-0.2%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders