Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Namibia Power Corporation (NamPower) says it is lining up for the potential benefits of the government’s much-anticipated green hydrogen project, which would see the country exporting power.
NamPower’s acting chief executive officer (CEO), Fritz Jacobs, this week told Desert Radio 95.3 FM once the project is completed, the company will engage with successful hydrogen developers on purchasing excess energy from these power plants to lower the power utility’s overall tariffs.
“In future there may be an opportunity for NamPower to purchase hydrogen as an end product and utilise this fuel to fire our power stations. However, NamPower looks forward to seeing the outcome of the detailed feasibility study, which would be finalised in about two years,” Jacobs said.
He said hydrogen developers may require NamPower to relay additional power from their hydrogen plants to customers in the rest of Namibia and the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).
The green hydrogen project is currently being developed by the interministerial green hydrogen committee (GHC), together with the green hydrogen technical committee, which is the implementing arm of the GHC. Jacobs said NamPower’s role has been to nominate individuals to serve on the technical committee.
“It is still in its early stages with regard to the project, and following the request for proposal (RFP) process. The government has announced the successful bidders who will be granted the opportunity to conduct detailed feasibility studies in the Sperrgebiet area, in the //Kharas region, for a period of two years,” he said.
KEY NAMPOWER PROJECTS In line with NamPower’s strategic intent and the determination by the Minister of Mines and Energy to develop power-generation projects with a total capacity of 220 MW, NamPower has implemented new renewable energy projects under the strategic pillar of ensuring security of supply.
Jacobs said two projects have been developed as independent power producer (IPP) projects, involving that NamPower would only procure energy from IPPs. These projects are the Khan 20 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project, and the 50 MW wind project to be based near Lüderitz.
The four remaining projects are undertaken in different phases, namely the Omburu 20 MW solar PV project, which is in its construction phase, and the 40 MW NamPower wind-power project, which is in its tender phase.
“Furthermore, several transmission projects which were also approved as part of the strategic business plan will be built in the next five years to strengthen the Namibian grid, and to dispatch the power generated from the new generation projects to our customers,” Jacobs said.
POWER GENERATION He said NamPower is focused on fulfilling the country’s developmental goals. As a result, the company therefore needs a sufficient supply of electricity as it continues to import a significant share of electricity needs from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
“We import about 60% (during the rainy season) to 70% (during the dry season) of our power requirements from our neighbouring countries in the SADC region,” he said. NamPower’s planned renewable energy project portfolio is aimed at filling this supply gap and ensuring a reliable supply of electricity.
“We are committed to supporting the Namibian government’s objectives as set out in national planning policies, and in particular the National Integrated Resource Plan and the 5th National Development Plan,” Jacobs said.
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