South Africa’s Minister of Energy & Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has announced that the Ministerial Determination for the procurement of 2,500 MWe of nuclear energy, has been withdrawn to allow for public comment.
A court case, initiated by environmental groups Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI) and Earthlife Africa Johannesburg, which are contesting the legality of the gazetted Section 34 determination signed by Ramokgopa, was scheduled to be heard in October. The two groups said the determination is unlawful and unconstitutional, citing various procedural irregularities. These include failure of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to consult with the public before approving the determination.
In 2023, Nersa had conditionally accepted the determination, listing several suspensive conditions, including establishing the rationality of adding 2,500 MWe of nuclear through a demand and generation profile analysis. Nersa also sought confirmation that engineering, procurement and construction contract principles would be used during the procurement phase.
The Department of Mineral Resources & Energy (DMRE) subsequently submitted a report outlining how these conditions had been met and Nersa approved the determination, which was then gazetted. This led SAFCEI and Earthlife Africa Johannesburg to lodge a legal objection stating that Nersa had failed to meet its obligation to subject the DMRE report to public consultation.
They also noted that the determination was based on an outdated Integrated Resource Plan – IRP 2019 – which was in the process of being updated and had never specifically included new nuclear capacity as part of the electricity generation mix for the 2030 planning horizon.
The 2019 IRP, however, recognised the need to retain nuclear power in the energy mix and supported utility Eskom in pursuing a licence for the long-term operation of the two-unit Koeberg NPP – Africa’s only operating NPP that produces about 5% of South Africa’s electricity. In July, South Africa’s National Nuclear Regulator granted Eskom a licence to continue operating Koeberg unit 1 for another 20 years until July 2044 and is expected to reach a decision on the long-term operation of unit 2 by November 2025.
Ramokgopa, announcing the withdrawal, acknowledged that any new determination should be in line with an updated IRP. He also promised that his Ministry, which is in the process of been unbundled from the DMRE in line with the new portfolios announced as part of the Government of National Unity, was prioritising the update of the plan.
He promised consultation with those stakeholders that had made “substantive” input on the draft IRP 2023 and said an expert body would be formed in parallel to assess the role of new nuclear in the future mix.
However, Ramokgopa insisted that the government remained committed to procuring new nuclear capacity in line with its stated policy that nuclear capacity would be introduced at a pace and scale that the country could afford. SAFCEI and Earthlife Africa said the announcement was a positive outcome. “We uphold that transparency in government decision-making is a cornerstone of our democracy,” they said in a statement.
At a media briefing Ramokgopa explained that the DMRE had to satisfy a raft of rigorous Nersa suspensive conditions, which took into account various factors before the process could go ahead. He agreed that Nersa’s failure to make the DMRE’s report available to the public for further comment was procedurally unfair. “I agree that Nersa should have subjected the department’s report for another public participation process. On the back of that… I’m withdrawing the gazette for that public participation to happen. The issue of concurrency sits with NERSA. The only time we were informed that a second public participation did not happen was after the [court] papers were filed.”
He noted that there would be a delay. “Of course, there’s a penalty you pay as a result of this decision [in] that you are delaying the process,” he said. “But we are happy to delay the process so that we are able to allow for each and every party in the country that wants to add a voice in how we are going to procure this process for them to be given the opportunity to be able to make that submission.”
He added that the delay will add another three to six months to the process. “We are happy to do that for as long as we protect the integrity of the process; for as long as we cement the transparency of the process so that there’s general public confidence in the work that we are doing…. We will carry South Africans every step of the way to preserve the integrity of any procurement process, including the nuclear procurement process especially given its checkered history,” he explained.
He acknowledged that the government’s previous attempt to procure nuclear energy was “soiled in … a veil of secrecy and not understanding essentially the procurement process” and that this alone had undermined the ability of the country “to be able to benefit from this clean, reliable and efficient source of energy”.
