South Africa needs new water supply solutions

CLIMATE change is no longer academic. You have only to ask people living in the Western and Eastern Cape, who face severe climate variations and prolonged droughts. It is clear large scale and sustainable solutions need to be found.

We need a water supply that is not reliant on the climate.

Estimates show the world’s first climate change refugees will come from southern Africa with Botswana and Namibia affected alongside us, and mass migration as a result of climate change is expected to start from South Africa in 2042.

The shortage of water has forced us to look at alternative options. Our only viable long-term solution is mass desalination of seawater, but this is energy intensive.

However, if we use nuclear power, desalination comes as a bonus.

There are currently two proposed desalination plants out for tender in the Western Cape, one for the waterfront and the second for Koeberg Nuclear Power station.

There are three base-load options for electricity generation; coal (on which we currently rely), gas and nuclear.

While we have an abundance of coal, the reality is that it remains a dirty energy and has to be replaced.

South Africa is committed to the Paris Accord, which requires us to cut emissions from coal.

Gas is expensive to produce and we do not have a ready supply.

Despite the considerable construction costs, nuclear power plants, comparatively, are extremely cheap to run.

There are no easy solutions to providing for South Africa’s water and power needs – but nuclear power, done to scale with desalination plants coupled to them, provides a tempting solution to our challenges.