ELECTRICITY MIX
SA is switched on to Mahlobo’s wheeling and dealing in nuclear bid
Minister may try to get energy model changed in order to push through deals — but civil society is watching
President Jacob Zuma and Energy Minister David Mahlobo are so desperate to restart the process to procure a fleet of nuclear power stations that they are pressuring the Department of Energy to produce a new "policy-adjusted" electricity plan that overturns the conclusions of its own computer modellers that nuclear energy is not needed. The outputs from the world-class Plexos model, which has been run for the department so it can publish an updated electricity Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), clearly show that the energy mix that will provide SA with an adequate, affordable and reliable electricity supply excludes nuclear energy. Much has changed since the official IRP 2010 was published. Electricity demand is lower and the most optimistic new forecasts assume much slower increases in electricity demand, even if the economy expands more rapidly. The relative costs of power generation options have changed. The updated model incorporates the latest cost data, including actual solar and ...
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