South Africa's state power utility Eskom is in exploratory talks with the World Bank over funding for a multibillion-dollar nuclear programme that could be launched within 12 months, a senior company official told Reuters on Wednesday.

Eskom, which runs Africa's only operational nuclear power station near Cape Town, is preparing a request for information covering up to 5 200 megawatts of new capacity.

South Africa is seeking more baseload power - steady, always-on electricity supply - as it shifts away from coal, which still supplies most of its electricity.

Eskom is proposing 4 800 MW from conventional pressurised water reactors and 400 MW from small modular reactors (SMRs), with at least half of the SMR capacity earmarked for its coal-to-nuclear strategy.

"We are in exploratory discussions with most of the potential funders ... (over) different ways of funding this," Bheki Nxumalo, Eskom's group executive for generation, said on the sidelines of an energy conference in Cape Town.

"We are ... looking for anyone with ideas, there are different options," Nxumalo said, referring to a technology facing domestic opposition from environmental groups and communities.

Cash-strapped Eskom cannot fund new nuclear plants on its own and is seeking backing from partners including commercial banks and institutions such as the African Development Bank, Nxumalo said.

"As a matter of policy, we do not comment on potential or exploratory discussions with member countries or utilities," a World Bank spokesperson said.

Last year, the World Bank signalled a return to nuclear financing, saying it would support countries that choose it as part of their energy mix.

FUNDING OPTIONS

The World Bank said its engagement is guided by countries' development priorities and its policy framework, which allows for a range of technologies.

Funding options under consideration include public-private partnerships and vendor financing, where a developer builds and funds a plant - as Russia's Rosatom is doing at Egypt's El Dabaa project, Nxumalo said.

"There is some work we need to do internally but we want to go to the market for both technologies (conventional and SMR) within the next 12 months," he said.