Uganda's Yoweri Museveni, Rwanda's Paul Kagame and Burundi's Pierre Nkurunziza could rule until 2034. PHOTOS | FILE
Faced with persistent power deficits, which have slowed down
industrialisation, Africa is increasingly considering new alternatives
for electricity generation, including nuclear energy.
Across the continent, dependence on sources like hydro, solar and wind has failed to increase electricity connections.
According
to the World Bank, sub-Saharan Africa faces a power infrastructure
deficit requiring the upwards of $90 billion annually to enable at
least 600 million people to connect to grid electricity.
East
Africa has an average of 40 per cent power coverage, and this has been
blamed for the high cost of production for manufacturers as well as the
high cost of consumer goods.
Ethiopia, Egypt and South
Africa are increasingly becoming attractive to investors due to the
relatively low cost of power there.
Although the
governments of Kenya and Uganda are investing in new generation sources
like geothermal, coal and natural gas, they are also considering nuclear
energy as an alternative.
Already, Kenya has engaged a consultant to find a suitable site
for its proposed $5 billion nuclear power plant, which is expected to
produce 1GW in 2027.
Uganda is even more ambitious: it seeks to produce 4GW initially.
Reliable power
Nuclear
energy is cheap, with a tariff of about 6 US cents per kilowatt
compared with a high of 12 cents for thermal. Nuclear power is reliable,
compared with hydro, which is prone to weather changes.
“The
future of energy and base-load generation is in nuclear, and probably
coal and liquefied natural gas. Kenya needs to push ahead with the
nuclear agenda to meet the country’s energy needs,” said the managing
director of Kenya Nuclear Electricity Board Collins Juma.
Mr
Juma said that Kenya requires at least 18,000MW to become a
middle-income and industrialised nation. With the total installed
capacity at 2,370MW, it will need to diversify its energy sources to
reach that target.
Countries in East Africa are among
those on the continent seeking to build nuclear power plants driven by
the need to end power challenges, and accelerate industrial and
economic growth.
Russia, China and South Korea have emerged as the key vendors of nuclear energy, offering to help in financing the deals.
The
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been at the forefront of
the campaign to sell nuclear to Africa. Its deputy director-general
Mikhail Chudakov told The EastAfrican that nuclear energy holds the key to industrial development.
“Africa needs to understand that solar and wind are good for home lighting [but not manufacturing],” he said.
Massive investments
But
nuclear energy needs massive resources to build and operate, so
state-owned companies like Russia’s Rosatom, China General Nuclear,
China National Nuclear Corporation and Korea Electric Power Corporation
are pushing various financing and construction models for the
continent’s customers.
The companies have signed
agreements and memoranda with African countries, ranging from research
and development and human resources development to full reactor
projects. Russia and China, in particular, have crafted packages
providing state-backed loans, in the process altering the dynamics of
nuclear markets.
In Egypt, for instance, Russia is
providing 85 per cent of the funding for the 4,800MW plant currently
under construction at a cost of $21 billion.
Russia is
also pushing the build-own-operate-transfer model, where it maintains
ownership of the plant and sells electricity to the host country.
Rosatom is already deploying this model in Turkey.
According
to Mr Juma, although Kenya is yet to decide on the financing of its
plants, the models available in the market make the pursuit of a nuclear
plant viable.
“The Russian model is attractive because
we just need to negotiate a tariff that is reasonable enough to make
the vendor recoup their investment then they come and build the plant,
own it and operate it for some years, once they have recouped their
investments, they transfer the plant to the government,” he said.
He
added that while critics say the model is tantamount to a country
ceding sovereignty to the vendor country, negotiating for a favourable
tariff guarantees access to cheap electricity for years.
“For
us, the bottom line should be access to cheap electricity,” he said,
adding that Kenya needs the nuclear plant because the country has
exhausted hydro while the total capacity for geothermal, which is also
capital intensive, is 10,000 MW.
Widespread opposition
But
while African governments believe nuclear offers an easy way of
addressing energy needs, opposition to the technology is widespread,
something that has made it difficult for most countries to achieve one
of IAEA’s top conditions: A general acceptance by the wider populace.
A
common national position on a nuclear plant is the topmost condition in
the IAEA 19 infrastructure milestones approach for any country pursuing
nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Opposition in
African countries is informed by the fact that some Western countries
like Germany have significantly downscaled generation from nuclear due
to growing concerns over safety and security in the wake of the 2011
Fukushima disaster in Japan.
“African countries
understand that nuclear power is a clean and good source of energy for
the future. But they also understand that nuclear has some specific
features that need to be prepared to construct a safe, secure and
reliable nuclear plant.
“As IAEA we are glad that
African countries are fulfilling their obligations and following all our
recommendations because this is the path towards having a nuclear
plant,” said Dr Chudakov.
Despite brakes being applied
in the West, investments in nuclear reactors is on the rise,
particularly in Asia and Eastern Europe.
At the end of
2016, the total number of operating reactors stood at 448, up from 441
in 2015 while currently there are a total of 61 reactors under
construction, 20 of which are in China with a further 15 spread across
India, Pakistan and Russia.
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