ROSATOM Highlights its Solutions for Africa

ROSATOM recently participated in the Power-Gen Africa, where it exhibited and presented its latest nuclear and renewable technologies. The conference gathered more than 3000 attendees from the local and international power sector.

Delivering a presentation during the Nuclear Forum, ROSATOM regional Vice-President of Sub-Saharan Africa, Viktor Polikarpov highlighted the company’s solutions for the African continent. He noted that the continent drastically needed to increase its installed capacity and should strive towards achieving a balanced and environmentally friendly energy mix. He also noted that a growing number of African nations had recently shown great interest in developing nuclear, not only to close their current generation gaps but also to secure the immense amount of power needed to make future economic and social ambitions a reality.  “Russia recently signed memorandums of understanding on cooperation in peaceful uses of atomic energy with Uganda and Ethiopia at Atomexpo 2017, which was held in Moscow in June. It is very encouraging to see that Africa is moving towards nuclear as a clean and sustainable base load source,” he added. He continued by highlighting the fact that nuclear technologies provide far reaching socio economic benefits beyond just providing sustainable and affordable energy, and that they play a fundamental role in improving the lives of millions of people across the globe.

Within the framework of Power-Gen Africa 2017 “Rusatom International Network” signed a Memorandum of Understanding with African Young Generation in Nuclear (AYGN). The MoU lays the foundation for cooperation in the enhancement of education and public acceptance of nuclear energy across the African continent. This includes the organization and holding of international conferences and exhibitions in the field of nuclear power technologies; exchange of experience on a regular basis; promotion of educational opportunities for African youth at educational institutions in Africa and Russia etc. “It is very important to develop international communication between Africa and Russia. This MoU is a further step towards the transparency of nuclear technologies in Africa and will bring new and exciting opportunities to young Africans” – said ROSATOM regional Vice-President of Sub-Saharan Africa, Viktor Polikarpov.

ROSATOM also presented its latest mini-hydro solutions during the conference. In the nearest time Company plans to sign its first contract on mini-hydro power plant project up to 2 MW in South Africa. Simple and cost-efficient, mini-hydro power plants (HPP) can be used in areas that are not connected to the main power grid for financial or technical reasons. They can serve either as independent power sources or as an alternative to cost - inefficient and non-eco-friendly fossil fuel generators. The self-contained units do not require the construction of a dam and have no impact on the environment of rivers and other water bodies. Thanks to their innovative design, mini-HPPs can even be installed at discharge channels of water treatment facilities. Each mini HPP consists of a turbine and a set of auxiliary equipment mounted inside a standard shipping container. The containerized design drastically reduces lead-in times and costs of construction.