By Linda Daniels and Boyd Webb
A blueprint to secure the country's energy supply to avoid the "crisis management" when faced with fuel and electricity shortages is on the cards, according to Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica.
And Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin confirmed on Monday that a second nuclear power station would be built in one of the Cape provinces.
Addressing reporters in Cape Town, Sonjica acknowledged that there was currently no policy for the security of energy supply.
| 'It's a strategy to guide the implementation of our policies' |
"What is missing as we speak is the blueprint that will guide the implementation of that policy, and that is what we will be coming up with - the integrated plan of security of supply of both electricity and fuel."
She said her department was expecting to submit the first draft of that policy to the cabinet by July.
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"It's a strategy to guide the implementation of our policies and will guide (entities) such as Eskom and PetroSA on how to pursue security of supply."
Sonjica said fuel and electricity shortages were currently being dealt with in a "crisis management" fashion.
"We feel we have been dealing with this (shortages) piecemeal," explained Sonjica.
Two years ago, the motoring public were caught off guard when filling stations across the country suddenly ran dry during the Christmas holiday period.
Power outages have in particular plagued the Western Cape, and Eskom has been under pressure to deliver.
Eskom has also warned of further power disruptions in the next five years as the utility gets hard-pressed during the implementation of its expansion plan.
President Thabo Mbeki said in his State of the Nation address on Friday that the government would accelerate a programme to produce more electricity from nuclear - and gas-fired plants.
On Monday, Erwin followed up on Mbeki's promise and revealed that the government had given the go-ahead to build a second nuclear power plant.
"The decision to build a second plant has been taken - the Eskom board took that decision last year with our support," Erwin said in the media briefing with Sonjica.
Erwin said the technology was being evaluated and that a decision regarding the preferred bidder would be taken in the first quarter of this year.
This could also lead to increased plutonium production and manufacturing, Erwin said, stating that it would be required to fuel the plants.
While Erwin said an official announcement would be made shortly, he revealed that the plant would be similar to Koeberg, outside Cape Town.
- This article was originally published on page 3 of The Star on February 12, 2007
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