The South African power utility Eskom signed mid-March a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) to support South Africa’s nuclear new build program, ESI Africa reported.

Eskom informed in its website that the MoU counts with the participation of two state-owned companies, which will collaborate supporting the government’s plans to build local capacity through supplier development and localization around the unfolding infrastructure for the nuclear program.

The company’s Group Executive for Group Capital, Abram Masango, stated that Eskom is gearing up in preparation for the nuclear new build program in order to deliver the project within the set timelines and budget.

“We want to ensure that South Africans get reliable, decarbonized baseload power that will bring sustainable economic growth,” he added.

The areas of cooperation between the companies include project management, implementation services for infrastructure development, skills development, localization, provision of the requisite skills training for different stages of the project, socio-economic development (SED) studies in relation to the impact of the NNBP, fitness for duty (FFD) center processes, and stakeholder engagement and communications.