Electricity and Control February 2024

ENERGY MANAGEMENT + THE INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENT

The case for including nuclear in SA’s energy mix Dr Andrew Dickson, Engineering executive, CBI-electric: low voltage suggests that South Africa, in transitioning to a new, clean and sustainable energy platform, should include nuclear power in the energy mix.

Dr Andrew Dickson, CBI-electric: low voltage.

S outh Africa has committed to net zero emissions by 2050, but the country’s power crisis is putting achieving this goal in jeopardy. Cabinet has recent ly approved the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan and the allied Implementation Plan [1] , which aim to guide South Africa’s transition to a low carbon economy through the scaling up of renewable energy sources, while also meeting the country’s growing energy needs and ensuring inclusive economic growth and employment. However, a balanced portfolio that includes nuclear power should be considered as a more holistic solution. Dr Dickson highlights that nuclear power plants provide a stable baseload supply of energy. “Conversely, renewa ble energy sources like solar and wind have output gaps when the sun sets, or the wind stops blowing and therefore require complementary backup power or energy storage solutions to deliver dispatchable energy. Additionally, a typ ical nuclear reactor easily produces 1 GW of electricity per plant and requires about 3.4 km 2 of land to do so, whereas solar farms need between 116 km 2 and 200 km 2 to gen erate the same amount of electricity and wind farms from 670 km 2 to 930 km 2 .” Moreover, he adds that, unlike renewable energy pro jects, which are currently hampered by transmission grid capacity constraints in provinces like the Northern Cape, Western Cape, and some parts of the Eastern Cape where these natural energy resources are abundant, nuclear pow er plants can be constructed in areas with greater grid ca pacity. Looking at the role nuclear energy could play in combat ing climate change, Dr Dickson notes that nuclear power plants do not emit any greenhouse gases during operation, according to the World Nuclear Organisation [2] . “Further more, over the course of their lifecycle, nuclear plants are said to produce about the same amount of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per unit of electricity as wind, and one third of the emissions per unit of electricity compared with solar. This does not take into account the carbon emissions footprint of grid-scale battery storage, including all steps in the manufacture of the battery from mining and refining of the materials used through to recycling the battery once it reaches the end of its lifespan.” In France, for example, 88% [3] of electricity is produced from zero emission sources with nuclear accounting for 63% of its energy mix and wind, 12%. This has led to the country becoming the largest producer of zero emissions power in the European Union and being far ahead of oth

er EU countries in decarbonising electricity. France has committed to fully decarbonise electricity by 2035 and will phase out coal entirely by 2024. “According to the CSIR’s energy statistics, South Africa makes use of only 1.9 GW of nuclear power versus 3.4 GW of wind and 2.3 GW of solar,” Dicksom points out. “Although there are concerns about the safety of nuclear power, large ly due to two major accidents: Chernobyl in Ukraine in the the then USSR in 1986, and Fukushima in Japan in 2011, this does not compare to the number of deaths caused an nually from pollution from coal-fired plants. A report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air has found that Eskom’s coal power stations alone are responsible for some 2 200 deaths every year. By some accounts, nuclear power has been deemed one of the safest sources of ener gy – even more so than wind.” Dickson adds too the point that although it takes on av erage around eight years to build a nuclear reactor versus two to six months to construct a wind farm and eight to 12 months for a solar farm, in South Africa, delays in the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procure ment Programme have meant that these projects are not being built much faster. Additionally, he emphasises that with nuclear plants, the country would be able to generate gigawatts of electricity whereas renewable energy projects operate at comparatively smaller scale, producing a couple to several hundred megawatts in some cases. “Increasing the amount of nuclear power in South Africa’s energy mix could help to ensure a bigger, better and more stable baseload which, in turn, will help to bring about an end to loadshedding, spur economic growth and enable the country to meet its net zero emissions commitment,” he concludes. □ References: [1] https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/president-cyril-ramaphosa pleased-milestones-reached-he-concludes-visit-cop28-dubai [2] https://world-nuclear.org/nuclear-essentials/how-can-nuclear-com bat-climate-change.aspx [3] https://ember-climate.org/countries-and-regions/countries/france/

For more information visit: https://cbi-lowvoltage.co.za

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