Niasa to hold deliberations on the draft IRP2018 <www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/niasa-to-hold-deliberations-on-the-draft-irp2018-2018-10-01>
1ST OCTOBER 2018
BY: SIMONE LIEDTKE <www.engineeringnews.co.za/author.php?u_id=1180> WRITER
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The Nuclear <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/nuclear> Industry Association of South Africa <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/south-africa> (Niasa <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/niasa-person>) will, on Wednesday, host a workshop to deliberate its response to the new Integrated Resource Plan 2018 (IRP2018).
The workshop, which will be held at the Wits Club at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Braamfontein, aims to bring together energy <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/energy> experts, stakeholders, civil society organisations, the scientific community and labour to discuss the government’s on/off stance on nuclear <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/nuclear>. ADVERTISEMENT <www.engineeringnews.co.za/adcentre/rv/en/www/delivery/ck.php?oaparams=2__bannerid=4302__zoneid=420__cb=c19ddc500f__oadest=https%3A%2F%2Finternational.go-dove.com%2Fen%2Fevent-19971>
Wits University research fellow Professor *Antonie Cilliers <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/antonie-cilliers>*will lead the discussions.
The workshop will also feature a presentation on Niasa <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/niasa-person>’s response to the IRP2018. ADVERTISEMENT <www.engineeringnews.co.za/adcentre/rv/en/www/delivery/ck.php?oaparams=2__bannerid=2350__zoneid=647__OXLCA=1__cb=d356290ee9__oadest=https%3A%2F%2Fpips.seifsa.co.za>
Niasa <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/niasa-person>, meanwhile, is hoping the workshop will help to bring a better perspective and create more understanding about the role nuclear <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/nuclear> can play in South Africa <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/south-africa>’s electricity <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/electricity> plan for the future, it said in a statement issued on Monday.
The main objective of the workshop is to exchange knowledge of the country’s electricity <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/electricity> plan, as outlined in the IRP2018, and to highlight the shortcomings of the current IRP2018, as well as the role nuclear <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/nuclear> can play to overcome those.
The current draft IRP2018 attempts to provide a number of least-cost planning scenarios based on various growth paths for South Africa <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/south-africa>, Niasa <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/niasa-person> MD *Knox Msebenzi <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/knox-msebenzi> *said.
He further pointed out that, generally, “the plan fails to meet the least-cost planning objectives, as it ignores all costs associated with socioeconomics of various options, as well as the transition costs”. He added that it “does not judge all energy <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/energy> sources on the same merit”.
“Rather than being technology <www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/technology>-neutral, it appears that the plan has been developed with certain policy outcomes in mind with the least-cost planning method used as a tool to achieve this. It seems that the developers of the least-cost approach used a ‘cheapest’ plan rather than a least-nett-cost plan to the economy as is defined by industry,” Msebenzi elaborated.