South Africa's President Jacob Zuma attends the opening ceremony of the 26th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, January 30, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa will procure nuclear energy at an affordable pace and scale, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday.

“We will procure nuclear energy on a scale and pace that the country can afford,” Zuma said in his annual state of the nation address to parliament.

South Africa hopes to install 9,600 megawatts of nuclear power in the next 15 years to address chronic electricity shortages but the cost of the project estimated at about $100 billion has raised budgetary concerns.