Rosatom Working on Preliminary Stages of South Africa Bid
Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom is participating in the preliminary information-gathering stage of a tender to build a nuclear power project in South Africa, TASS news agency reported on Tuesday.
TASS previously cited Rosatom Chief Executive Alexei Likhachev as saying his company had submitted a bid for the project.
"We are participating in the request for information, it is not yet a tender procedure. Then there will be a pre-bid application, and then the tender," TASS later quoted Likhachev as saying.
Rosatom had been considered the leading candidate for a tender to build 9.6 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity in South Africa by 2030, but South African nuclear state agency Necsa said last year it was no longer "the frontrunner".
South Africa wants to deepen its nuclear know-how, save costs and create jobs by making sure it picks a company that is happy to share the manufacturing and maintenance.
Rosatom has sold several nuclear reactors to developing countries, including Turkey, under a model by which Russia finances, builds and operates the nuclear plant and sells power to its customer.
But the state firm has been hampered by Russia's reputation for using energy policy as a means to political ends.
Matshela Koko, head of South African state utility Eskom which is in charge of the project, said the company was not yet inviting bids. He would not confirm if Rosatom was involved in the pre-bid process.
"Eskom has not received a bid from anyone," he said.
(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng in Johannesburg and Alexander Winning in Moscow; Writing by Jack Stubbs)
