CAPE TOWN, October 1. /TASS/. African countries are showing increasing interest in nuclear energy, including advanced technologies such as Russian floating power units (FPUs),Vladimir Aptekarev, Deputy Director General of Floating Energy Solutions at Rosatom Mechanical Engineering LLC, told TASS at the African Energy Week in Cape Town, South Africa.

"African countries' interest in nuclear technologies is growing, and many countries on the continent are beginning to integrate nuclear energy into their national plans," he said.

"There is a growing understanding that nuclear energy is not just an energy supplier, but also a driver of socioeconomic development and economic scalability, new jobs, and decarbonization as part of the environmental agenda," he added.

The executive noted that there is interest in floating nuclear power plants in Africa, with Russia leading the development and use of them.

"We are constantly seeing growing interest from African countries in floating nuclear solutions because they don't require extensive infrastructure, are relatively quick to deploy, and are very easy to launch," he said.

"A fully operational floating power unit arrives at the deployment site, on specially prepared infrastructure, which is relatively simple compared to other generation technologies, such as high-power plants. Of course, it's very important for African countries, our partners, to understand that we are the only country in the world, and Rosatom is the only company, that has an operational floating power unit. This is the Akademik Lomonosov floating power unit, which has been supplying electricity and heat to the city of Pevek for over five years."

"We are conducting substantive negotiations with a number of African countries regarding the supply of electricity from floating power units. Interest in floating power units will undoubtedly increase," the top manager said.