THE University of Cape Town Energy Research Centre’s report on the (un)affordability of the plan to build new nuclear power stations comes as no surprise (Big nuclear build makes no climate or economic sense, April 18).Government thinking is based on the 2010 Integrated Report Plan (IRP), which has proved to be hopelessly wrong.It overestimated demand for electricity hugely, and both the National Development Plan and the 2013 IRP, which corrected the 2010 assumptions, recommended postponing a decision on nuclear power on economic grounds. But these reports have been ignored.Most of the increased demand, according to the 2010 document, would come from the metropolitan areas. At the time, the City of Cape Town disputed this and told a public hearing on the plan that it expected electricity demand to level off, or even fall. The city has been proved correct. In the new municipal budget, it expects revenue from electricity sales to drop 1.5%, despite a tariff increase of about 8%.Cape T...
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