Nuclear Regulator extends Koeberg operating licence for a further 20 years
The Koeberg Unit 1 power plant now has an operating licence until July 2044.
Picture: © hijackhippo/123rf.com
Motheo Khoaripe speaks to Princess Mthombeni, energy expert & founder of Africa4Nuclear.
Listen to the interview in the audio player below.
South Africa's National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) has announced that one of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant's two units may continue to operate for an additional 20 years.
Unit 1 of the plant, west of Cape Town was set to have its 40-year operating license expire this month, but state-owned power company Eskom requested a 20-year extension to continue operations in an attempt to alleviate the country's severe power outages.
Unit 1 provides 930MW to the electricity grid.
According to a statement from Eskom, Koeberg Unit 1 will join approximately 120 reactors worldwide that have safely continued operations beyond their initial 40-year life.
"...those coal power plants they will have to be replaced by another baseload source, and nuclear offers a baseload capacity." - Princess Mthombeni, founder of Africa4Nuclear
"South Africa is not operating in isolation...nuclear is a good option for South Africa, especially taking into consideration loadshedding and the coal power plants that in future are going to be decommissioned." - Princess Mthombeni, founder of Africa4Nuclear
#EskomMediaStatement
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) July 15, 2024
Koeberg operating licence extended for further 20 years pic.twitter.com/0KyJXAY7gV
Eskom will continue to operate the unit until January 2025, when the unit will be shut down for its next scheduled refueling and maintenance outage.
The current licence for Koeberg Unit 2 only expires on 9 November 2025, and the Koeberg Power Station is implementing some of the pre-requisites for Long Term Operation in the current outage.
Once the current outage is complete, Unit 2 will be returned to service, and the NNR has stated that the decision regarding the Long Term Operation for Unit 2 will only be made at a later date, but prior to 9 November 2025.
Speaking to Motheo Khoaripe on The Money Show, Princess Mthombeni, creator of Africa4Nuclear says more countries are relying on nuclear for electricity generation.
"Every country that has plans to decarbonise their electricity, they are relying either on nuclear or hydro, or a combination of both. And as South Africa, we have very limited capacity for hydro, which makes nuclear an option for us." - Princess Mthombeni, founder of Africa4Nuclear
"Last year at COP28, over 25 countries signed a pledge to triple nuclear capacity so that they are able to accelerate their pace to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2025." - Princess Mthombeni, founder of Africa4Nuclear
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