Eskom’s new station set for 2017.

We all know how frustrating load shedding can be and are all eagerly anticipating a permanent solution to the problem.Well, Eskom is planning on having a nuclear facility capable of producing 3500MW of electricity completed by 2017.

That seems like a step in the right direction and Eskom has also stated it is debating whether or not to enter into a power buying deal with EDM, a Mozambican power company.2017 does seem a long way away when we are faced with rolling blackouts on a regular basis at the moment.

Nothing is final yet and Eskom still needs to finalize the location of the new plant and the group who will build it.Eskom will take until the end of 2008 and then announce who has won the tender to build.There are two major contenders for the tender,Areva and Westinghouse.Hopefully the company who wins will remain on track as a major delay will only further extend the current situation and become extremely detrimental to the country’s future growth.

Eskom also has to take into account the environmental effects another nuclear power station will have, and they have conducted three environmental impact studies for this purpose.Oyster Bay, Duynefontein and Skulpfontein were chosen for the studies and the data collected from them will aid in the decision making process.

I suppose we can only wait for Eskom to announce the location of the new plant and then wait some more for the plant to be completed.It really does seem like a long time to wait until you find out how complex and time consuming the process of building a nuclear plant is.I would rather wait a little longer and be assured it was built correctly.