Johannesburg – The nuclear build programme will end up costing the South African economy over R3trn in debt, according to civil society group Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa).
The organisation released a video this week unpacking the economic impact of the deal. South Africa’s current debt level is at R1.89trn and a nuclear deal can escalate this to above R3trn.
It is estimated South Africa will have to borrow R1.2trn for the deal. “R1trn will be enough to build 100 million RDP houses. Two houses for every man, woman and child in the country,” stated the organisation.
The repayments on a R1.2trn loan come to R100bn a year. This will put a dent in government’s budget to supply basic needs such as education, healthcare, social welfare and public transport.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research found that nuclear energy is 25% more expensive than new coal and solar power, and 67% more expensive than wind.
Energy analyst Chris Yelland found that new wind, solar power and gas cost R1 per kW and new coal costs between R1.05 and R1.19 per kW. However, a nuclear will cost between R1.30 and R1.52 per kW.
Fin24 previously reported that the 9.6 GW nuclear energy programme is expected to cost around R650bn over its 10-year lifespan. Earlier this month Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson announced that requests for proposals (RFPs) would be released on September 30 2016.
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