By TZBN Staff and Agencies.
There is a surge in nuclear energy adoption in Africa, with projects targeting 15 GW of operational capacity by 2035, Russia’s state-owned nuclear technology corporation Rosatom has said, attributing the projected figures to the Nuclear Business Platform.
Over 10 African countries are looking to embrace nuclear energy, the majority of which are leaning on global partnerships such as those fostered with Rosatom to accelerate project development. Countries in the forefront include the Republic of Congo, Guinea Conakry, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Mali and Egypt.
In July 2024 Rosatom signed an agreement with the Republic of Congo – which has ambitions to enhance the adoption of nuclear energy. The deal will see the parties collaborate on the peaceful utilization of nuclear energy and hydroelectric power.
The plan aligns with the Republic of Congo’s efforts to diversify its energy mix beyond oil, leveraging Rosatom’s expertise to improve energy access, the Russian nuclear corporation has said. The Congo agreement came on the heels of an MoU with Guinea-Conakry in June 2024, in which the west African nation wants to co-operate on development of Floating Nuclear Power Plants (FNPPs).
Rosatom currently operates the world’s only FNPP at Pevek City at the northernmost eastern part of Russia, where a warm, pleasant day may record -4 degrees celcius as a ‘slightly cool’ day may record -9 degrees celcius.
The Akademik Lomonosov FNPP at Pevek has proved that innovations in nuclear energy are the key to success in providing local communities with a clean and stable power supply, Rosatom has said. For almost five years, Akademik Lomonosov, the world’s first and only FNPP has been supplying heat and electric power to the citizens of this Russian city considered one of the world’s coldest places to live at.
Over the period of Akademik Lomonosov’s operation at Pevek, there have been numerous achievements and highlights, including a 390,000-ton reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, 905 million kWh of nuclear electric power generated, and more than 4,000 citizens of Pevek enjoying continuous supply of heat and electric power.
Guinea-Conakry think they can do with a nuclear plant like that. Victor Yelagin, the Pevek FNPP Director, stated, “The floating NPP has proved to be reliable and efficient. It is a real flagship of small-scale nuclear power technology”.
Suitable for remote regions with undeveloped or unreliable power grids, floating nuclear offers a range of benefits for African countries. As a small nuclear power plant, the facilities provide access to clean and affordable power for hard-to-reach communities, offering an environmentally-friendly energy option with 24/7 operational capacity, Rosatom has said. The agreement with Guinea-Conakry will see Rosatom construct floating nuclear plants, equipped with RITM-200 reactors. Power will be used to support industrial and domestic consumption.
Rosatom has also signed an agreement with Burkina Faso’s Ministry of Energy, Mines and Quarries for the construction of a nuclear power plant in the country. Construction will be complete by 2025 with the project expected to double Burkina Faso’s power production by 2030. The deal also features a clear roadmap to enhance the country’s nuclear power adoption, including the establishment of a regulatory framework for nuclear energy.
In addition to nuclear power development, Rosatom is driving nuclear energy capacity building and training across Africa.
In South Africa – the continent’s only nuclear power producer – Rosatom has signed an agreement with the state-owned power utility, Eskom, for a nuclear action plan for the period 2024-2026. The plan comprises joint education initiatives, joint degree programs and workforce training.
South Africa plans to continue utilizing nuclear power to fulfil both its domestic and industrial needs. Recently, the Koeberg station – accounting for 5% of South Africa’s power supply – has been approved to run for an additional 20 years. The Rosatom-Eskom plan aims to support this by equipping the workforce with the requisite skills and capacities.
To support nuclear production in Africa, Rosatom is also advancing uranium mining across the continent. The company plans to start mining uranium in Namibia by 2029, with plans in place to complete the prospecting and exploration phase of the Wings Project by 2026. At a total investment of $500 million, the project will produce 5,000 metric tons of uranium per year.
“Rosatom represents a strong partner for Africa’s nuclear industry,” states NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber.
In Egypt, Russia is about to complete a four-power-units NPP, where the most recent project activity was installation of a safety component in a completed unit. Rosatom says Africa’s new nuclear power plant in Egypt has been installed with a safety feature called “Core Catcher”.
A core catcher is a device provided to catch the molten core material (corium) of a nuclear reactor in case of a nuclear meltdown and prevent it from escaping the containment building. The core catcher is made from a special thermally resistant concrete ceramic to prevent nuclear core material from melting through the core catcher; it also has a cooling mechanism to cool down the core material, according to expert explanation.
In the pursuit of clean and affordable energy, many countries are exploring the opportunity of setting up nuclear power facilities, and Egypt is not an exception the Russian corporation has said. Installation of the core catcher body recently commenced at El-Dabaa NPP Unit 3 in Egypt, where the General Designer and General Contractor is the Engineering Division of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom.
El-Dabaa NPP is located approximately 300 km north-west from Cairo. At completion the NPP will consist of four power units, 1200 MW each.
On 25 September, 2024, Nikolay Spasskiy, Director of the International Cooperation Unit of Rosatom, met with a delegation from Mali led by Alusseni Sanou, Minister of Economy and Finance to discuss power generation issues. The Malian delegation included
Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Bintou Camara, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Madina Sissoko Dembele, and the Minister of Mines, Amadou Keita.
Discussions followed meetings which took place earlier between the President of the transition period of the Republic of Mali, Colonel Assimi Goïta, and Rosatom. Three memorandums related to the development of nuclear infrastructure and human capital were signed as the final outcome.
Mr. Spasskiy invited the Malian delegation to visit a Russian NPP by the end of the year. The invitation was gratefully accepted.
