The United States and Russia are locked in a race against China, France, and South Korea to build the first nuclear power plant in Ghana.

The West African country is among several nations on the continent looking to nuclear power as a low carbon source of energy as they seek to broaden access to electricity.

Ghana is turning to nuclear power to complement its existing mix of hydro, thermal and renewable energy. The winner of the ongoing bidding process will be announced at the end of 2024 by outgoing president Nana Akufo-Addo, Stephen Yamoah, executive director of Nuclear Power Ghana, which is supervising the project, told Semafor Africa.

Yamoah said a target to build the plant by 2030 would be missed because “we still haven’t settled on a vendor.” Construction, which is expected to last five years, is due to begin in 2026.

Ghana is projecting that nuclear energy will make up 5% of the country’s energy mix by 2030 and 35% by 2070, according to Dr. Robert Sogbadzie, deputy director of power at the Ministry of Energy. “Every country is coming in based on its proposal,” he said, stressing that the cost and technology used will be the determining factors, rather than solely politics.