Government puts the brakes on nuclear power - but Eskom says it's going ahead
Eskom said it will still request proposals this year from companies looking to build plants South Africa's government has slowed its nuclear power expansion plans, according to a draft energy paper, although state energy utility Eskom said the country should stick to its original plan of bringing a new plant online by 2025.South Africa has the continent's only nuclear power station and is seeking to expand its nuclear, wind, solar and coal power capacity in the coming decades as electricity output barely meets demand.A draft blueprint of the government's Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) said it now aimed to increase nuclear power output by just 1,359 megawatts (MW) by 2037, compared with a previous target of adding 9,600 MW of new nuclear power by 2030.Under the new IRP, nuclear power output would rise more rapidly by 20,385 MW between 2037 and 2050.The government cited additional generation capacity, lower demand forecasts and changes in technology costs among the reasons for scalin...
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