Page 15 - AfrElec Week 20 2022
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AfrElec NUCLEAR AfrElec
Uganda to select site for East
Africa’s first nuclear power reactor
UGANDA UGANDA is yet to select the site of its first Eight potential sites have been selected for
nuclear power plant (NPP) but the country aims what will be eastern Africa’s first NPP, according
to expand its electricity generation capacity, to Robert Kilyowa, an engineer in the Nuclear
according to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Energy Department of the Ministry of Energy
Development. and Mineral Development.
Uganda is largely hydroelectric power-de- Uganda was given a green light by the IAEA
pendent but plans to increase generation capacity to begin the first phase of nuclear power produc-
by about 7 times in the medium term, according tion projected to start by 2031.
to the Electricity Regulatory Authority. “We haven’t yet concluded on which site to set
Last week, the International Atomic Energy up the nuclear plant, but we are currently rank-
Agency (IAEA) reportedly approved Uganda’s ing them [sites] for proximity to a water body,
plan to build East Africa’s first NPP. best geology, no flooding and being least pop-
According to Chinese state news agency ulated to evacuate people in the unlikely event
Xinhua, the IAEA’s director for Africa Aline of an emergency”, Kilyowa was quoted in The
des Cloizeaux told Ugandan President Yoweri Monitor.
Museveni of the approval during a visit.
Kibo Energy signs energy
storage deal wtih CellCube
SOUTH AFRICA KIBO Energy, a fossil fuel electric power gen- proud to have entered into this partnership,
eration company based in Ireland, has signed thereby positioning Kibo to explore its pipeline
a rolling five-year agreement with energy asset of energy storage projects in cooperation with a
developer CellCube to develop and deploy technology and market leader in future-proof
1GW-plus of its vanadium redox flow batteries storage solutions.”
(VFRBs) in Southern Africa. The partnership with a focus on Southern
CellCube, a subsidiary of Enerox, produces Africa, in particular on South Africa, which Kibo
a system of clean and reliable long-duration has described as “energy-starved”.
energy storage (LDES). Among Enerox’s share- According to CellCube, the partnership is
holders is Bushveld Minerals, a mining group the next step in executing the company’s strate-
that is one of three primary vanadium producers gic view.
globally, from its mine in South Africa. “It is exciting to see that the time has come
Kibo, which has a dual listing on London’s that VRFBs are able to address a gigawatt-sized
AIM market and the AltX on the Johannesburg pipeline. Kibo has shown that it understands the
Stock Exchange, will now work with the com- LDES space and the activity that is needed to
pany to conduct marketing, sales, configuration unlock value in the nascent long-duration vana-
and delivery of CellCube’s VRFBs. dium redox-flow application,” CEO Alexander
“As Kibo is aggressively rolling out its Sus- Schönfeldt said. “CellCube offers a bankable
tainable and Renewable Energy Strategy, we are product and we are well-positioned and look
delighted to announce this dynamic arrange- forward to building on these initial steps with
ment with a leading flow battery producer,” Kibo Kibo to realising a vanadium-based energy stor-
CEO Louis Coetzee said. “In this regard, we are age vision for the region.”
Week 20 19•May•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P15
