Cape Town - While Eskom celebrates 40 years of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station and being permitted to operate until 2044, many have raised eyebrows at the price tag that has come with it.
Eskom’s group executive for generation, Bheki Nxumalo, said on Monday that the station would cost around R21 billion over the next 20 years.
Previously, in a parliamentary reply to DA MP Benedicta van Minnen, information received from Eskom was that the total cost associated with the activities needed to support the licence application for long-term operation is projected to amount to R21 billion.
Eskom held a media briefing on Monday, attended by Nxumalo, Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, power station manager Velaphi Ntuli and Keith Featherstone, chief nuclear officer.
Nxumalo said that Koeberg was a crucial component of Eskom’s energy generation mix and stabilises the supply of electricity in South Africa by supplying dependable base-load power.
“It helps increase the energy security of the country and provide critical megawatts to close our national energy supply gap, and it will continue to play a key role as Eskom moves aggressively into delivering a cleaner energy portfolio,” he said.
However, news of the cost that comes with maintaining the power station has drawn criticism.
Sandra Dickson, founder of lobby group Stop CoCT said: “South Africa’s, and specifically Eskom’s, past record of sticking to budgets was bad. Remember what happened to the Medupi and Kusile budgets. They more than doubled. Eskom and its poor track record in building and maintaining plants remains a much bigger risk than the cost of a R21 billion nuclear plant.”
Peter Becker, ex-director of the National Nuclear Director and Koeberg Alert Alliance member agreed the figure was not accurate.
“This is like going to a restaurant and asking how much the meal costs, and the guy says we’ll add it up afterwards.
“Obviously, who is going to pay for that? It is the consumer of electricity and alternatively the taxpayer if Eskom needs another bailout from the National Treasury,” Becker said.
“It is entirely unacceptable that they are hiding the cost of refurbishing Koeberg and assuming that the electricity consumer is going to carry that cost at the end of the day.
“There is a complete lack of transparency, Eskom should do a full release of the updated costs. It is obviously a lie that it is still R21bn.”
AfriForum’s Environmental Affairs manager, Morné Mostert, said the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) should also accept some responsibility. “The real important part is to ensure that efficiency is paramount, and that imprudent costs aren’t being transferred to consumers.”
The Cape Argus contacted Eskom for further details yesterday, but it had not responded at the time of going to print.
Nersa did not reply by the time of publication.