New nuclear power plant in Cape Town on the cards

South Africa will move forward with plans to build a new nuclear plant and revive its modular nuclear reactor program, part of a broader push to secure long-term energy stability, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramakgopa said on Sunday.

The new plant, to be built in Duynefontein in the Cape Town metro, will add four gigawatts of nuclear capacity initially, Ramakgopa said.

The country has also received approvals to extend the life of its existing Koeberg nuclear station to 2045, the minister said.

Key infrastructure facilities to be reopened include a fuel development laboratory and helium test facility, and new nuclear waste sites will also be established, he added.   

The government intends to enlist international investors and technology partners to help finance and design the projects, Ramakgopa said.

A revised Integrated Resource Plan, approved by the cabinet in October, envisions R2.23 trillion in energy investment by 2042, with nuclear playing a growing role as South Africa seeks to reduce its reliance on coal-fired power. 

A so-called modular pebble-bed reactor concept, first proposed by state-owned utility Eskom in 1999, was once touted as a technology that could be licensed to other utilities, potentially generating billions of rand in annual revenue.

But, after spending almost $1 billion on development, South Africa put the project on hold in 2010.