South Africa's nuclear program will be included in the country's 20 year Multi-Year Price Determination, the department's deputy director general for nuclear, electricity and clean energy Ompi Aphane said Tuesday.
The 20-year plan will replace the current practice of using three-year tariff determination cycle and should be finalized in June. South Africa introduced the multi-year approach to address deficiencies with the Rate of Return methodology and its implementation has received wide stakeholder acceptance and support.
"We will have a long-term trajectory (for electricity pricing) up to 2030 and it will create certainty for all manner of people who require that certainty," Aphane said.
Currently, Eskom – owner and operator of the country's only nuclear power station, Koeberg – is operating under the three-year plan, which runs until April 2013.
The country also is setting up a nuclear build project in order to increase its nuclear output to 9.6 gigawatts by 2029. Aphane said no decision had been made on the future of this project as of yet – as the National Nuclear Energy Coordinating Committee still needs to meet – but that financing will be included under the 20-year pricing plan.
Earlier this month, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said that the South Africa's nuclear build program is in its final stages of consideration.