Nuclear Africa Build 2015 event is set to be held in South Africa on 25 – 26 November. The move comes even as Africa’s pursuit of nuclear energy dates back decades with South Africa spearheading the campaign to begin building new nuclear reactors in the following years. Closely following this agenda are countries such as Egypt, Kenya, Uganda and Ghana all of which are making headway to start the process. However, new nuclear projects are not without challenges. Seldom meeting commissioning deadlines, the low capacity of highly skilled nuclear reactor construction staff and high construction risks and costs often cause many to speculate whether new nuclear power projects are a plausible solution financially.
Africa’s electrical consumption has been on the rise with the significant growth in urban population areas. The reliance on conventional fossil fuel is not sustainable, especially given the crisis currently faced by the global mining industry. Low commodity prices have resulted in multinational mining companies downsizing their various operations globally. In a country like South Africa, where this coupled by rolling load-shedding, productivity in the coal mines has been adversely affected. Ageing infrastructure and poor maintenance have left Eskom, Africa’s largest power utility, vulnerable.
In his State of the Nation 2015 address, President Jacob Zuma announced that government would begin the procurement of the 9 600MW nuclear build program in line with Integrated Resource Plan 2010 – 2030. The R1 trillion nuclear build procurement process is scheduled to be announcement at any moment and yet the question remains regarding the preparedness of the country to start with the construction of these new nuclear reactors. The rest of the continent’s nuclear hopefuls are looking to South Africa and now is time to take stock of what lies ahead in meeting Africa’s energy security demands.
Africa Management Communications International is pleased to announce the Nuclear Build Africa 2015 running 25 – 26 November 2015 at the Sandton Sun Hotel in Johannesburg.
Weighing up an infrastructure backlog estimated to be in the billions of dollars versus the need for sustainable alternative energy solutions, attendees will be afforded with a status report on the 19 infrastructure issues which impact achieving nuclear power generation objectives in an economical and effective manner.
For more information about the Nuclear Africa Build 2015 visit www.amc-intsa.com or contact Mayvis Motaung at [email protected] or +27 11 341 1000
