Africa-Press – Namibia. GERMANY has provided Namibia with a 20 million euro (about N$334,7 million) grant for the implementation of a utility scale energy storage system in Namibia, a first for the country and the southern African region.
According to a media release issued on Friday, Germany gave the grant under a bilateral cooperation agreement between the two countries through the KfW Development Bank and the project will be implemented by NamPower.
“The grant will go towards the construction of a 58MW BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) plant that will be situated at the Omburu substation, located 12 kilometres south-east of Omaruru, in Erongo region.
“As part of the agreement, NamPower has committed to contribute approximately 20% of the total project costs, to be used for the construction of the transmission interconnection as well as for the local taxes and duties, which are not included in the grant funds,” said the statement.
NamPower managing director Kahenge Haulofu said: “The BESS project will contribute towards achieving the national energy policy target of 80% of the energy requirements from local sources by 2023, the renewable energy policy target of 70% by 2030, and will assist in the overall reduction in the cost of energy to the customer.”
The statement added that once commissioned, NamPower will use a combination of applications identified for the plant, namely peak shifting, energy arbitrage, provision of emergency energy, ramp-rate control and reactive power control.
Electricity from renewable energy generation as well as cheaper electricity imports from the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) can be stored in the BESS and supplied to customers during peak times and would offset fossil energy from the ageing local Van Eck coal power plant.
“The electricity grid in Namibia will be stabilised as short- and medium-term power fluctuations from renewable energy generation can be load-followed by the storage system.
“Given the planned growth of renewable energy, this will ensure a stable power supply in the long term and create good production conditions for future growth and economic development,” said the statement.
The battery storage will also enable Namibia to expand its participation in electricity trade within the 12-member states of the SAPP.
The BESS project is in line with Namibia’s national climate change targets specified in the Harambee Prosperity Plan, the national integrated resource plan and the nationally determined contributions, which mention battery storage solutions as a means to improve flexibility and stability of the transmission grid as a condition for continued renewable energy expansion.
The improvement of grid conditions will allow the country to invite new investors for renewable energy projects in the future.
“Thus, the implementation of the BESS project will have a positive impact on the investment climate for independent power producers and contribute to creating new income and employment opportunities,” said the statement.
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