South Africa plans to restart a modular nuclear reactor program and increase reliance on gas for electricity generation, according to Bloomberg. The country’s cabinet approved a revised Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) last week, envisioning 2.23 trillion rand ($128 billion) in energy infrastructure investment by 2042.

Nuclear and gas are set to account for 16% of total generation capacity over the next 14 years, up from three percent today, while coal dependence will fall to 27% from 58%, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, the electricity and energy minister, told reporters.

Ramokgopa described the plan as “the single biggest investment program of the post-apartheid era,” aimed at ensuring energy security while aligning with net-zero electricity generation targets by 2050. “Globally, there’s a trend of going nuclear,” he added, noting that fourteen major international financiers have committed to supporting nuclear projects.

South Africa, the continent’s most-industrialized economy, currently relies on coal for most of its electricity and has faced decades of rotational blackouts, which began easing last year. The IRP is intended to guide the country’s transition toward a more diversified, low-emission energy mix.

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., the state-owned utility, first proposed a modular pebble-bed nuclear reactor in 1999, anticipating that licensing the technology could generate billions annually. The project, which cost $980 million before being suspended in 2010, is now being reconsidered alongside an expanded gas strategy.

Environmental groups are expected to challenge the plan. Liziwe McDaid, strategic lead at the Green Connection, said past civil-rights campaigns successfully opposed several fossil-fuel projects, suggesting the new nuclear and gas push could face similar scrutiny.