The South African National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) has received safety case in support of the application to extend the operational life of the 1,860 MW Koeberg nuclear power plant (2 x 930 MW), operated by the country's state-owned power utility Eskom, beyond the current licence term of 40 years. The two reactors are licensed until 2024. The company is in the process of finalising the public information document (PID) and will have to publish both the application and the PID in the government gazette, newspapers and to serve notices to interested and affected parties.
Koeberg, located 30 km north of Cape Town, is currently the only operational nuclear power plant in Africa. It comprises two pressurised water reactors (PWRs) based on a design by Framatome (France) that were commissioned in 1984 and 1985. Construction started in 1976. In 2021, nuclear accounted for 3.4% of South Africa's power mix.
In February 2022, the South African Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) initiated a tender to select a service provider to develop a procurement framework for a new 2,500 MW nuclear programme, including conventional pressurized water reactors (PWRs) and small modular reactors (SMRs).
Interested in Power Plants?
Enerdata has developed a market research service to screen, monitor and analyse the development of power generation assets.
Power Plant Tracker offers an interactive database and a powerful search engine covering power plants worldwide – including both installed and planned capacities for renewables and fossil fuels.