Russia’s Rosatom would be open to participating in the financing of South Africa’s nuclear build programme should it be selected as the country’s nuclear energy strategic partner.
Rosatom first deputy director-general Kirill Komarov said the group had access to financing for the projects it implemented in the form of government-to-government loans and that it could also participate as a JV partner.
South Africa intends installing eight nuclear power generation units with a combined capacity of 9,600 MW, with the first unit expected to come on stream in 2023. South African Nuclear Energy Corporation CEO Phumzile Tshelane who, like Komarov, was speaking on the sidelines of the seventh Atomexpo nuclear energy conference, said selection of a strategic partner was advancing, with South Africa’s government having signed agreements with Russia, China, Japan, the US and South Korea.
“We will have a strategic nuclear energy partner by the end of the year,” said Tshelane.
Rosatom would also be open to participating with other vendors in the build programme if the South African government felt it needed to spread its risk by appointing more than one vendor.
Rosatom has stated that it would implement programmes to transfer skills to South Africans and work towards localisation if selected to build South Africa’s next nuclear power plant or plants.
Rosatom is the world’s foremost nuclear power plant (NPP) builder, with nine new units currently under construction in Russia and a further 29 in other countries. The group’s NPP construction order book for the next ten years stands at about $100-billion.
