The following upload is an incredibly interesting presentation by Dr Kelvin Kemm and Leon Louw. To begin with here are a few notes on it:
What works in Europe does not necessarily work in South Africa. South Africa is the same size as the whole of western Europe. It is the same distance from London to Rome as it is from Cape Town to Pretoria! Therefore energy builds and transmission will not necessarily fit the European model.
All wind and solar to date bought by Eskom, has been bought at a loss.
The cost of wind and solar has risen not decreased. Wind and solar cost 222 cents per kilo-watt hour in 2018. In 2017 the cost was 188 cents . While Koeberg is 37 cents per kilo -watt hour !
When the sun is not shining, i.e. at night, unless you invest in expensive salt / battery storage, solar panels don`t produce electricity. So the grid has to switch back to base load ( coal ) . The cost of having the coal running on average 12 hrs a day IS NOT FACTORED into the cost of wind and solar to make renewables seem less expensive. Very dishonest!
Nuclear critics distort the figures when they say nuclear is more expensive, they say nuclear always takes too long to build, too late and too expensive. Koeberg was built on time and on budget back in the 1980s and it was the first nuclear plant built in South Africa. The French designed it but South Africans modified the design. Koeberg is far safer that Fukushima was. The South Africans designed a floating base to withstand earthquakes and tsunamis. The French (being the French) supplied all the technical information in French and sent French -only speaking engineers. That meant 40 South Africans had to be sent to France for a 6 month crash course in French. Despite all that and a bomb threat, Koeberg was built on time and on budget. WOW!
Wind Turbines – what is the environmental cost? Vast tracts of land needed compared to nuclear.Wind turbines kill huge numbers of bats. The bats sonar can detect the blades but behind each moving blade is an area of low pressure which kills the bats because their lungs burst. Bats are essential to us as they consume vast numbers of insects that attack our crops.Turbines are killing birds of prey. Birds of prey are extremely important top predators who consume rodents.
Most interestingly, a study is now underway in South Africa as to the environmental effect of changing and reducing wind currents.What effect do large numbers of turbines have on air currents considering they are positioned on ridges which are an intrinsic part of air flow systems. Does this turbine depletion of wind ( by harnessing it in quantity) affect pollen distribution, thermals, cloud formation and therefore rainfall?
Hydro- What happens to the production of hydro energy during a drought. In Tanzania they encountered energy output loss of up to 73%! Transmission – The longer the distance you transport electricity the greater the loss of watts. Importing hydro from DRC is not a solution because of the distance.
South Africa has coal but most countries in Africa do not have coal deposits. Many do not have coal, gas or oil.
Source: Stewart Clark
Leon Louw and Kelvin Kemm – Nuclear Safety Lies! 27 October 2018