Ghana: US, Russia, France, China, Korea join race to build country’s first nuclear plant

Ghana will decide by December which company will build its first nuclear power plant, choosing from contenders including French, US, Chinese, Russian and South Korean energy firms.

Faced with power shortages, growing calls for environmentally friendly energy solutions and the vulnerability of hydropower to drought, Ghana has been one of the few African countries exploring alternative sources of energy including nuclear power. France’s EDF, US-based NuScale Power and Regnum Technology Group, and China National Nuclear Corporation, South Korea’s Kepco and its subsidiary Korea Hydro Nuclear Power Corporation as well as Russia’s Rosatom have been locked in a race to build the first nuclear power plant in Ghana. The decision on the winning contractor is expected by December, says Robert Sogbadji, the West African country’s deputy director in charge of nuclear and alternative energy. “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,” Sogbadji said on Monday (20 May).

Ghana decided in 2015 to join several other African nations in considering nuclear energy as a low-carbon alternative to fulfill its electricity needs, seeing it as part of its strategy to diversify its energy sources, which currently include hydro, thermal and renewable energy. However, Ghana will miss its target to build the plant by 2030 because the country still has to choose the contractor, which means that construction, which is expected to last five years, is due to begin in 2026. South Africa currently hosts the only nuclear power plant on the continent, yet besides Ghana, also countries like Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda have recently unveiled intentions to venture into nuclear energy development.