By Eskom announced on Monday, 15 July 2024, that the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) has granted the utility a licence to continue to operate Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 for another 20 years.
Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 has reached its life span of 40 years, to this, Eskom says it has operated Unit 1 safely and has invested in safety improvements and extensive maintenance to ensure that the Unit continues to operate safely.
According to Eskom, Koeberg will contribute an additional 930MW to the national grid for another 20 years until 2044. The Unit is not the only one operating beyond its lifespan, Eskom says it will be joining approximately 120 other stations across the world that are operating beyond their 40 years lifespan.
Though there are other nuclear power stations in other countries in the world, South Africa is the only country in the African continent that has a nuclear power station.
“Together with our business partners, we are proud of the achievement that ensures that Africa’s first and only nuclear power plant can now continue to operate safely into the future,” said Bheki Nxumalo, Eskom Group Executive for Generation.
South Africa has been plunged into load-shedding that was detrimental to the economy of the country, losing approximately R1 billion a day. The fight against such included the introduction and use of renewable energy to relief the strained grid. Though the country has had more than 100 days without load-shedding, the fight is not yet over.
“The granting of the licence is a testament to the hard work and continued commitment of our teams to nuclear safety and Eskom’s generation recovery plan.
Over the years, Koeberg has identified and implemented safety improvements through both French and US nuclear experiences, which have reduced the risk to levels that would normally only be achieved by new, modern nuclear power plants,” said Keith Featherstone, Eskom Chief Nuclear Officer.
Eskom says as the Koeberg licence will be changed to reflect an end date of 21 July 2044 for Unit 1, Eskom will continue to operate the unit until January 2025, when the unit will be shut down for its next scheduled refuelling and maintenance outage.
“The current licence for Koeberg Unit 2 only expires on 9 November 2025, and the Koeberg Power Station is implementing some of the pre-requisites for Long Term Operation in the current outage. Once the current outage is complete, Unit 2 will be returned to service, and the NNR has stated that the decision regarding the Long Term Operation for Unit 2 will only be made at a later date, but prior to 9 November 2025,” explained Eskom.
