Energy ia a critical sector of Namibia’s economy, society and politics. It is the live wire of all other sectors.
Mechanised farming depends on energy to produce food. Namibian households rely on it to light up their houses, cook their food, watch television and do a host of other things.
Industries cannot produce goods and services without the energy sector.
As a security practitioner, I will attempt to provide a guiding definition of energy security.
I will also briefly take stock of our energy sources and reserves, highlight real and potential threats to our energy security and discuss Namibia’s strategic response to energy security.
ELUSIVE CONCEPT
Energy security is an elusive concept, and there is no generally accepted definition for it.
I will outline what it entails in the Namibian context, and why it has become a main topic of discussion worldwide.
Energy security is at the foundation of various public policies and frameworks.
It primarily concerns the availability of sufficient energy reserves within our country.
It would also imply sustainable or continuous demand and supply of energy across the length and breadth of our country.
In our context, it would also mean equitable distribution, affordability of energy and diversification of our energy sources or system.
Most of our rural areas don’t have access to electricity; our energy distribution is concentrated in urban areas.
This does not fulfil an important criterion of energy security, casts doubt on sufficient energy reserves, and raises questions over balanced demand and the supply of energy in Namibia.
The increase in population and industrial, economic, social, and environmental activities in the foreseeable future will place significant stress on our energy reserves, production and distribution.
The hope is that the discoveries of oil and green hydrogen will contribute significantly to energy security.
SUPPLY SOURCES
Namibia’s main energy sources include biomass, sun (solar), thermal, hydropower wind and coal.
With the discovery of oil, we can add petroleum and green hydrogen to the mix. Namibia undoubtedly has a good mix of renewable and carbon-based sources of energy reserves to tap into, but not all have been developed.
The reality is that energy production, especially electricity generation, for both domestic and industrial purposes, relies heavily on hydropower, coal, diesel and thermal from power-generating stations.
These power-generating stations are barely sufficient for Namibia’s domestic and industrial consumption, which is why we import energy from South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
It is hoped that when fully developed and operational, the discoveries of oil offshore, as well as green hydrogen production, will significantly add to Namibia’s energy generation, distribution and consumption, strengthening our energy security.
This would not only attract foreign investments, but create job opportunities and skills capacity.
As the world’s third largest producer of uranium, Namibia also possesses the potential to become a nuclear energy producer for peaceful purposes.
POTENTIAL THREATS
With potential opportunities, comes potential dangers to energy security: Man-made threats and natural disasters.
We can control manmade problems but don’t have control over natural disasters.
The greatest threats and impediments are man-made.
Illegal logging and poaching by foreign interests have the capacity to destroy Namibia’s forests and negatively affect its biomass energy reserve.
Oil bunkering – or the theft of Namibian oil by foreign nationals and companies – and poor environmental management, for example, have the capacity to destroy the country’s ecosystem.
This affects revenue generation from oil and gas and can eventually result in social turmoil.
Should corruption rear its ugly head in our energy sector, especially in the fields of oil, gas and green hydrogen, it will seriously affect our operational capacity and reserves, and can eventually lead to energy insecurity.
Externally, factors such as international terrorism and piracy threaten the safety and security of energy installations and the sea lines of communication for trade.
Natural disasters have the potential to have a serious impact on Namibia’s energy production, stability and trade.
As a semi-arid country, we are prone to natural disasters such as drought and desertification.
STRATEGIC RESPONSE
Namibia already has a robust response strategy to forestall energy insecurity. Its effectiveness largely depends on implementation.
To enhance security, it is important to prevent domestic shortages by protecting our energy sources and reserves, something that should be seen as the responsibility of all of us.
The government is investing heavily in different energy sources to make the country less dependent on foreign energy resources.
At the same time, it is putting in place strategies to enable Namibia to become a ‘big-time’ player in energy export trade.
We need to invest in technologies and develop local expertise in the technologies of different energy sources to address skills shortages in our energy sector.
These efforts also require us to make substantial investments in our transport corridors for efficient energy trade and establishing energy treaties and agreements.
We further need to ensure that the defence and security sector have the capacity to provide the necessary safety and security.
Finally, we must pay serious attention to our country’s environment and fragile ecosystem as we explore carbon-based energy sources.
- • Frans Kapofi is the minister of defence and veterans affairs
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