WWF hails change in SA’s energy policy

At present, South Africa has only one nuclear power station: Eskom's Koeberg facility outside Cape Town. File picture: Bruce Sutherland, City of Cape Town

At present, South Africa has only one nuclear power station: Eskom's Koeberg facility outside Cape Town. File picture: Bruce Sutherland, City of Cape Town

Published Nov 24, 2016

Share

Cape Town - The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) South Africa has lauded the release of the long-awaited draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and the proposed delay on the nuclear build.

WWF says the proposed nuclear build should be taken off the table altogether and more renewable energy should be added into the mix.

Read also: Nuclear plan delayed, but Eskom pushes on

In a statement, WWF South Africa said: “It is of concern that on the back of the release of the IRP, state utility Eskom has announced that it will be putting out a request for proposals for the proposed nuclear build for submission before the end of 2016.

“The draft IRP contains several scenarios which still need to be debated and interrogated through public consultation. For Eskom to pursue a call for proposals at this time, without further consultation and a cabinet-approved IRP in place, is both misplaced and premature.”

WWF-SA’s Policy and Futures Unit head, Saliem Fakir, said: “South Africa has made commitments both internationally and nationally to reduce carbon emissions, and to meet these commitments we need to install as much clean energy as possible at the most affordable price.

“Nuclear is not the answer. An unconstrained renewable energy scenario as the base case would be the most appropriate for South Africa.”

Fakir said the excuse that there was insufficient grid capacity to meet this surge in installations for renewables is true for all other options and part of the plan should be to strengthen the grid to overcome these obstacles.

Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Janine Myburgh said the chamber was pleased that the IRP says there is no need for more nuclear power in South Africa before 2037.

“This means we will not have to make a decision on building new nuclear power stations for the next 10 years and by that time we will be in a better position to judge the performance and cost of renewable energy.”

She said the report contained many assumptions on costs and demand forecasts, and these would have to be carefully interrogated.

One worrying factor about the new IRP was that it did not include a scenario in which there were no artificial restraints on renewable energy and the effect this would have on the case for nuclear power, Myburgh said.

CAPE TIMES

Related Topics: