Acting Eskom CEO Matshela Koko said on Tuesday that Eskom would this week release requests for proposals (RFP) for the 9.6 GW nuclear new build programme, reports Fin24.
This was after a surprise revelation by the Department of Energy's legal team that the department would be gazetting a new nuclear determination. The determination defines the procuring agency of the nuclear new build programme and would move it from the energy department to Eskom, a decision that was recently approved by Cabinet.
"The RFP will seek information on the bidders, the technology and its cost," Koko reportedly said.
The new determination will now delay the court case being heard about the requests for proposals.
Environmentalist groups the Southern African Faith Communities' Environment Institute and Earthlife SA are challenging government's nuclear procurement process, saying legal documents show that SA signed a deal with Russia in 2014.
The "Russian agreement was entered into unlawfully, but makes [an] internationally binding commitment to buy a fleet of nuclear reactors from Russia", reports Fin24.