The countries of Sub-Saharan Africa have sustained strong economic growth in the last 15 years. However, in order to maintain the existing annual remarkable growth rate of approximately 5-6%, African countries need to ensure that power infrastructure is developed at a far greater rate.
Since 2000, power consumption has increased by 45%, while the potential for power industry development remains almost untapped. At the same time, high prices for electricity caused by under developed power infrastructure remain a serious obstacle to improving the living standards of millions of people.
Today, access to stable and affordable electricity has become an indispensable precondition for securing sustainable development and decent living standards. Against the background of growing electricity demand, especially in the countries with large population and buoyant economies like South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, nuclear energy is being considered as a highly reliable and affordable source of energy. For instance SA is one of the pioneers in developing peaceful nuclear energy with decades of experience in fuel fabrication and reactor operation. That’s why South Africa stands ready to continue its nuclear programme and become a true leader in the development of nuclear technologies in Africa.
Today we witness a wave of interest towards nuclear power from emerging African countries like Kenya and Nigeria, where the governments are committed to implement nuclear programmes to add guaranteed electricity to their grids to keep economies and industries growing. For instance Kenyan government decided to start nuclear programme after it was estimated that the country will not be able to reach its economic goals relying only on intermitted renewable energy sources.
The real challenge African countries need to resolve is to ensure that energy supply is reliable and adequate. In this case, nuclear energy development can be a perfect solution. Nuclear power is a cost-effective and reliable base load power source. In countries that opted for nuclear energy it has ensured uninterrupted power supply for 60-80 years at a predictable price which does not depend on the volatility of global prices for energy resources. For instance, if the price of uranium doubles, the final cost of electricity generated by nuclear power will only increase by roughly 5%, which cannot be said about conventional energy sources.
So, why nuclear power should make part of energy mix in emerging countries?
Firstly, without nuclear power - a non-carbon baseload energy source - it will be almost impossible to meet COP goals. As for today nuclear energy accounts for nearly 11% of electricity and has no CO2 emissions. Renown energy expert Jude Clemente argues that, more nuclear energy will be needed to guarantee reduction of dangerous emissions in the power sector, which accounts for approximately 45% in global share of carbon emissions. To meet COP 21 and 22 goals this figure should be increased to 18% by 2030 and 25% by 2050.
That means that installation of more nuclear power is critical because it would drastically reduce emissions in the power sector, which accounts for nearly 45% of all global CO2 emissions.
Secondly, according to Charles Frank, expert from the Brookings Institution, nuclear power is the most cost-effective emissions-free technology. He argues, that for its part solar power is by far the most expensive way of reducing carbon emissions. It costs around $189,000 to replace 1MW per year of power from coal. Wind is the next most expensive. Hydropower provides a modest net benefit.
Nuclear power is efficient source of energy
Moreover, Jude Clemente states that modern NPPs have proven to be real “workhorses” of baseload energy generation. This means, that nuclear stations provide guaranteed and reliable electricity production. In this case nuclear as a backup for renewables is significant because it maintains no-carbon production.
In general modern NPPs have a baseload capacity factor of 90% and can operate for decades. These factors give nuclear option a clear advantage over wind and solar energy, which are totally dependable on nature. If we take global picture, the average nuclear power plant provides about 6 TWh of electricity, which is equivalent for 2,000 modern wind turbines.
Prominent South African expert Rob Jeffrey argues that wind only supplies electricity at best on average 34% of the time, that’s why it is highly variable, unreliable and unpredictable. At the same time solar is only available to generate electricity on average 26% of the time.
Against this background it is important to estimate efficiency of energy sources can be measured by different benchmarks. However the most important is levelised cost of electricity, which can be defined as current cost of producing one kilowatt-hour of electricity from any given energy source (no matter nuclear, coal or renewable energy). In other words, that it is the average price at which electricity must be sold in order to cover the costs of its production.
The levelised cost of electricity includes the costs of equipment used in producing energy and the cost of building a power plant after investment is made. Additionally, it includes the operations and maintenance costs and the costs of borrowing in order to build the plant.
For instance the table below shows that nuclear energy remains the most efficient source of non-conventional and clean energy source available in South Africa to guarantee base-load energy generation and supply for growing economy and infrastructure projects.
For example, Germany and Denmark, which pour huge resources into renewable energy, face the issue of increasing electricity prices in comparison with other developed countries. Rob Jaffrey, independent economic expert mentions that Electricity prices in Germany and Denmark are now more than 65% higher than nuclear France and the highest in Europe. He also cautions that electricity mixes which rely heavily on wind and limit drastically any plants to boost economy growth in case of South Africa.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS