Power in Namibia is generated and supplied by Namibia Power Corporation (NamPower), previously the West Africa Water and Electricity Corporation (Pty) Ltd (SWAWEK). NamPower supplies electricity to the mining and industrial sectors as well as the rural parts of the country. Local authorities distribute electricity and Northern Electricity operates and manages electricity supply in the north. The establishment of an Electricity Act in conjunction with an Electricity Board will serve to regulate and improve the efficiency of the sector.
Namibia has Africa’s third highest electrification level at 20 percent.
The electrical sector in Namibia has the potential to become the driving force behind economic development. Rural electrification of over 250 000 households in order to improve social conditions aims to be completed by 2010.
NamPower, which has undergone a restructuring process, has set out to address the challenges of a restructured Namibian electricity supply industry, and is actively embarking on ways to raise electricity generation capacity in the country. With this in mind, Namibia’s electricity regulatory authority, the Electricity Control Board, in conjunction with NamPower, aims to develop renewable energy, particularly wind power, and increase rural electrification, which presently stands at only 30 percent compared with 85 percent of urban households being electrified. Namibia is also a member of the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP), allowing for greater integration in interconnection infrastructure expanding generation capacity in the country.
The Ruacana Hydroelectric station on the Kunene River generates electricity in Namibia of which excess is exported to South Africa.
The coal-fired, Van Eck, thermal station at Windhoek also supplies the country with electricity together with small diesel units around the country. In the north, wood is the main source of energy and biomass is the main fuel. Wind power and solar energy can also be harnessed as other energy sources. Two wind measurement stations have been installed at Walvis Bay and Luderitz and a solar measurement station at Noordoewer. Solar energy is vital in supplying power to distant places.
Namibia is highly dependent on electricity imports from South Africa and the government has recently stated that it aims to meet 100 percent of the peak demand with locally produced power by 2010. Generation from within the country has become increasingly difficult as coal import prices have increased and the flow in the Kunene has been variable, making hydro generation unpredictable.
NamPower has embarked on a number of projects which will execute its plan to increase electricity generating capacity and supply in the country.
As early as 1991, NamPower, in partnership with Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, had begun working on implementing the Rural Electrification Programme. The aim of the project is to make electrical power accessible and available to the rural population of the country and to provide opportunities for economic development.
At the end of 2003, about 80 more villages and settlement areas had already received electrical power at the cost of N$50 million. These included communities that are situated in the vicinities of Omasati, Okangwati, Koës, Koichab Pan, Tsinsabis, Kalkfeld, Omatako, Karas, Osjikoto, Stampriet Wes and the Maize triangle has now been included in NamPower's electricity grid.
NamPower has also been working on the Kudu Power project. This project entails the development of the Kudu gas fields, which is situated 170km from Oranjemund in the Atlantic Ocean, and a power station powered by the Kudu gas fields also undergoing construction. The project includes transmission integration to Namibian and South African grids, whereby various transmission lines will be constructed in the process. The project is estimated to cost US$ 1 billion.
NamPower has recently completed the first phase of a feasibility study for the Popa Falls project. The project involves the construction of a hydropower station on the Okavango River situated in the vicinity of the Popa Falls. The feasibility study for the project is presently still underway.
The Epupa Hydro project involves the construction of a 360MW hydropower station downstream from Epupa Falls, situated along the Kunene River. The project is still in the process of being planned as the governments of Namibia and Angola are still to agree on the final site for the hydropower plant, since the Kunene River runs through both countries.
NamPower has recently completed the Auas-Khomas Project. The project involved the construction of a 220kV power line running from the Auas sub-station to the Khomas sub-station. The power utility is presently planning to construct a 132kV power line from the Auas Transmission Station east of Windhoek to the Rehoboth Substation just north of Rehoboth.
The purpose of the project is to rectify the problem of power supply constraints that have been experienced in the areas of Aris, Leutwein, Groot Aub, Oamites, Rehoboth, Oanob, Klein Aub and Blumfelde south of Windhoek. The areas are serviced by a fragile 66kV power supply system producing power of a poor quality. Rehoboth has also been seen as a potential central growth area in Namibia in need of an upgrade in the electrical power supply, while there is an increasing demand for electrical power in the area of Sossuvlei and the south-western areas of this region. It is for these reasons that NamPower sees the need to construct the 132kV power line as well as upgrading the remaining 66kV power supply system to meet growing power demand and to ensure a more consistent supply of electrical power in these areas.
