Johannesburg - Rosatom, Russia’s state energy company, has once again denied any claims of under-hand dealings in the country’s R1 trillion nuclear build programme.
The Russian company said yesterday that it would play by the rules in its bid for the nuclear power plants.
It has to respect the laws of the country when competing for the lucrative contract, including waiting until all processes have been completed.
Regional vice-president for Rosatom in southern Africa Viktor Polikarpov told Business Report on the sidelines of the energy summit in Cape Town yesterday that it had put in a valid tender.
He dismissed claims that it had already been awarded the tender. This follows claims last week when President Jacob Zuma signed a co-operation agreement with Russia, during the Brics summit in Ufa.
Similar claims swirled in September when it was announced that Rosatom had been awarded the tender. This was denied by both Rosatom and the government, which said it was a co-operation agreement. South Africa has since signed co-operation agreements with China, South Korea, France and the US.
Polikarpov said the Ufa agreement was on skills development and training for specialists. He said Rosatom would bid for the contract like all other countries.
Great demand
The government is expected to announce the procurement process by the end of July and a preferred bidder or bidders by the end of the year.
Polikarpov said Rosatom had been in the game for many years, and would not do anything underhanded.
He said its interest was to do business in a fair and competitive manner. Rosatom had also identified many opportunities in Africa, he added.
“There is a great demand for power in Africa. If you look at sub-Saharan Africa 600 million people do not have access to power,” he said.
He said across the continent of Africa a total of 48 percent of people did not have access to electricity. The company would use this space to build nuclear power plants in these countries.
Polikarpov said it was already talking to Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya about building nuclear power plants.
Rosatom signed an agreement with Nigeria in 2012 to build a nuclear power plant. The Nigerians want it by 2035.
They still have to decide whether they want 1.2 gigawatts or 2GW.
The Nigerians were also considering a 4GW power plant, he said.
Rosatom has also signed an agreement with Ghana to build a nuclear power plant, but things have not moved to high gear there.
The Kenyan government was also talking to Rosatom on building a 4GW power plant by 2035 as well, he added.
In another development, Rosatom said it was ready to help South Africa fund new nuclear plants if it was awarded the construction contracts.
Funding models
Polikarpov said Rosatom had suggested several funding models, including helping South Africa secure a Russian loan.
The loan duration might be 20 years and South Africa would only start repayment when the first plant started operating, he said.
South Africa plans to add 9 600 megawatts of nuclear power to the national grid and wants the first reactors to be operational by 2023, a target Polikarpov says is attainable.
While the Energy Department wants to award the contracts by the end of March, the Treasury says it still needs to establish whether these are affordable.
While Rosatom would consider building, owning and operating plants in South Africa, as it had done in Turkey, such contracts would be more complex, Polikarpov said.
* Additional reporting by Bloomberg
Business Report