Rosatom is one of five companies reportedly chosen as finalists for a project in the African state
Russian state energy giant Rosatom is competing for a contract to build Ghana’s first nuclear power plant, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing Robert Sogbadji, an official in the West African nation’s Energy Ministry.
According to Sogbadji, the Ghanaian government will select a company for the project from a list of five contenders that includes France’s EDF, the US-based NuScale Power and Regnum Technology Group, and the China National Nuclear Corporation.
The other company is South Korea’s Kepco and its subsidiary, Korea Hydro Nuclear Power Corporation.
“Cabinet will approve the final choice. It can be one vendor or two nations; it will depend on the financial model and the technical details,” Reuters quoted Sogbadji, who serves as Ghana’s deputy director for power in charge of nuclear and alternative energy, as saying on Monday.
The selection process, which is expected to be completed by December, is a significant step toward realizing the country’s long-held nuclear ambitions in the midst of a widespread electricity crisis.
For power generation, Ghana relies largely on thermal plants, which account for 66% and 33% of hydropower. According to its energy regulator, the country has 5,454 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity and an available capacity of 4,710.
The former British colony began considering building a nuclear power plant in the 1960s, under the leadership of its first president, Kwame Nkrumah, but the plan was abandoned following a coup. The process was revived in 2006 with the assistance of the International Atomic Energy Agency as the country grappled with devastating power outages.