Nigeria in talks with Rosatom to build four nuclear power

NIGERIA is in talks with Russia’s Rosatom to build as many as four nuclear power plants costing about $80 billion (R966bn) as Africa’s biggest economy seeks to add 1 200 megawatts of capacity by the end of the decade.

“A joint co-ordination committee is in place and negotiations are ongoing for financing and contracting,” Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission chairman and chief executive Franklin Erepamo Osaisai said on Monday.

“We are meticulously implementing our plans.”

The West African nation signed an agreement with Rosatom to co-operate on the design, construction, operation and decommissioning of a facility in 2012.

A further three nuclear plants were planned, taking total capacity to 4 800MW by 2035, with each facility costing $20bn, Osaisai said. The first Nigerian plant will be operational in 2025.

Output

Peak electricity output of Africa’s biggest economy is about 3 800MW, with a further 1 500MW unavailable because of gas shortages. South Africa, with a third of Nigeria’s population yet eight times more installed capacity, has also signed an agreement with Rosatom as the nation looks to add 9 600MW of atomic power to its strained grid.

South Africa’s agreement with Rosatom gave the firm the right to veto the nation doing business with any other nuclear vendor, Mail & Guardian reported in February.

The estimated cost to build the four nuclear plants

Rosatom and Nigerian officials met last month within the framework of a 2009 intergovernmental agreement to discuss co-operation, Rosatom spokesman Sergei Novikov said.

To date, no memorandums had been signed about the development of a nuclear plant.

Rosatom would hold a majority, controlling stake in Nigeria’s nuclear facility, while the rest would be owned by the country, with roles to be specified in contracts, Osaisai said.

“The government will enter a power-purchasing agreement for the nuclear plant,” he said.

The plants would be financed by Rosatom, which would then build, own, operate and transfer them to the government, he added.

Marketing

Rosatom is marketing its reactors with generous financing offers as Moscow seeks new markets for its technology amid a looming recession.

Over the last year, its international portfolio of orders has grown to more than $100bn, including deals to build new reactors in Iran, Hungary, India and Jordan.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russia agreed last year on a 12bn deal to expand the Paks nuclear power plant, scrapping plans for competitive bids for the biggest Hungarian public contract in a generation. U

nder the deal, which Hungary’s parliament classified for 30 years, Russia agreed to provide 10bn for the project in a 30-year loan at belowmarket rates.

Hungary is in talks with the EU after the bloc raised objections that Russian companies had exclusive rights to supply fuel to the plant and started a probe of possible state aid in the financing of the project.– Bloomberg