NamPower plans new power plant at coast

NAMIBIA’s power utility, NamPower, has issued a tender for the construction of a 50-megawatt power plant at Walvis Bay, at an estimated cost of N$1,2 billion.

The power station, according to a proposal document of NamPower, will operate during times when Namibia experiences a shortage of electricity being imported into the country and should enable the power utility to minimise or avoid power cuts.

NamPower generation project senior manager Benedictus Mingeli said the plant is expected to be operational by 2023.

“The plant will increase local peak generation capacity to complement increased renewable energy initiatives. It will also reduce the risk of load shedding when imports are not available,” he said.

The plant, to be known as Anixas II, will be built on the same premises as the current 22,5 MW emergency Anixas power plant at Walvis Bay.

It comes in the place of the old Paratus diesel power plant, which was disconnected from the grid a few years back.

Mingeli added that it will be expensive to generate electricity from the plant as it will use liquid fuel (light fuel oil or heavy fuel oil) or liquefied natural gas or compressed natural gas to generate electricity.

NamPower has set an ambitious target of generating 70% of the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030, to reduce Namibia’s reliance on imported electricity.

It plans to invest N$3,5 billion in renewable energy projects.

Independent power producers (IPPs) are expected to also complement NamPower’s generation capacity with up to 70 MW of solar and wind energy generation projects.

Namibia’s current power demand is estimated at more than 500 MW. NamPower has an installed generation capacity of 459,5 MW from its three operating power stations.