South Africa aims to restart development of its Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) by early next year, Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said last week. The project was halted in 2010 after more than R10 billion was spent, without completing a demonstration reactor.

Ramokgopa said internal processes to remove PBMR from care-and-maintenance status are well advanced. Eskom currently operates Africa’s only commercial nuclear plant near Cape Town, while Egypt is building its first and other African countries are considering nuclear options.

South Africa’s 2025 Integrated Resource Plan proposes more than 105 gigawatts of new capacity by 2039, with over half from renewable energy. It includes 5.2 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity and suggests a potential expansion to 10 gigawatts. China, South Korea, the United States, and Russia are among potential partners for PBMR development.