Russian nuclear energy group Rosatom confirmed on Friday that it had canvassed funding options with South African government officials during a recent “nuclear vendor parade workshop” held in the Drakensberg on October 23. The company said the options discussed were “preliminary” and would be explored in detail at “the appropriate time”.

However, in a recent interview with Engineering News Online, Rosatom regional VP: sub-Saharan Africa Viktor Polikarpov said Rosatom typically offered three broad financing models. These included the outright sale of its VVER solution to a domestic utility, taking equity stakes in nuclear plants, or pursuing projects on a build, own and operate (BOO) basis.

Polikarpov indicated that the BOO solution was the most likely proposition for South Africa, revealing that it was likely to be supported by a State loan from the Russian Federation.

Rosatom also used the meeting, which formed part of the Department of Energy’s (DoE’s) so-called “preparatory” phase ahead of a possible nuclear procurement process, to proposed a “strategic partnership”.

Such a partnership would provide for the transfer of technology to South Africa and the inclusion of South African companies as suppliers to Rosatom projects internationally.

The Russian group has also provided some insight into the composition of its delegation, which met about 50 South African government officials and academics.

It said its 18-member-strong delegation was led by director of international business Nikolay Drozdov, and was comprised mostly of engineers and business heads.

“The objective was to demonstrate how, if selected as a preferred supplier of nuclear power plants to South Africa, Rosatom will approach localisation, skills transfer and development while showcasing its technological capabilities,” the company said in a statement.

The DoE said further meetings were planned with other vendor countries such as France, China, South Korea, the US and Japan, depending on the “readiness of these countries to participate in the vendor parade workshops”.

South African Nuclear Energy Corporation's Ambassador Xolisa Mabhongo said South Africa would use the workshops as an opportunity to understand “what types of technology offerings could be expected from each vendor country if they were selected after a procurement process”.