NamPower CEO urges govt to assist in funding new power station
NamPower CEO Kahenge Haulofu says the national utility company should consider investing in a base-load power station to ensure consistent and affordable power generation.
Base load refers to the minimum, constant level of electricity demand on a power grid over a given period, typically 24 hours. It represents the steady, round-the-clock energy required to power essential services like homes, hospitals and industries that operate continuously.
Haulofu made the remarks during a consultative meeting with the parliamentary standing committee on economy and industry, public administration and planning, alongside the Productivity Task Force on Energy (PTFE).
The NamPower CEO noted that Namibia has not built a base-load power station since the commissioning of the coal-powered Van Eck Power Station in 1972 and the Ruacana Hydroelectric Power Station in 1978. He said this long gap has not been supportive of the country’s energy needs.
"If such things have not been developed by Namibia, definitely you will have to depend on others," he warned.
The government would have to commit to funding such a project instead of the utility company relying on others, he added.
Fill the gap
Haulofu told lawmakers that NamPower has identified several projects that could help fill the critical energy gap.
“The nation has to start thinking deeply to make sure that they plan, and they will have candidate projects that could be done. We continue to spend a considerable amount of money on transmission and renewable energy,” Haulofu said.
He said the time has come for the country to allocate resources toward funding a base-load power solution, rather than relying on NamPower to secure loans.
“If Namibia does not come up with a plan and tighten belts and put money into a national power plant, then waiting and waiting for a utility to come up with full-scale loans and things like that, it will not happen, because the money we get, we buy electricity," he said.
He also addressed the challenges of solar power generation.
"We are engineers. Solar has got serious challenges to our grid, and those challenges, even if we explain it a hundred times, people do not understand what we are talking about,” he said.
“We have a limit on how much solar to put on a small grid such as the Namibian grid," he explained.
Base load refers to the minimum, constant level of electricity demand on a power grid over a given period, typically 24 hours. It represents the steady, round-the-clock energy required to power essential services like homes, hospitals and industries that operate continuously.
Haulofu made the remarks during a consultative meeting with the parliamentary standing committee on economy and industry, public administration and planning, alongside the Productivity Task Force on Energy (PTFE).
The NamPower CEO noted that Namibia has not built a base-load power station since the commissioning of the coal-powered Van Eck Power Station in 1972 and the Ruacana Hydroelectric Power Station in 1978. He said this long gap has not been supportive of the country’s energy needs.
"If such things have not been developed by Namibia, definitely you will have to depend on others," he warned.
The government would have to commit to funding such a project instead of the utility company relying on others, he added.
Fill the gap
Haulofu told lawmakers that NamPower has identified several projects that could help fill the critical energy gap.
“The nation has to start thinking deeply to make sure that they plan, and they will have candidate projects that could be done. We continue to spend a considerable amount of money on transmission and renewable energy,” Haulofu said.
He said the time has come for the country to allocate resources toward funding a base-load power solution, rather than relying on NamPower to secure loans.
“If Namibia does not come up with a plan and tighten belts and put money into a national power plant, then waiting and waiting for a utility to come up with full-scale loans and things like that, it will not happen, because the money we get, we buy electricity," he said.
He also addressed the challenges of solar power generation.
"We are engineers. Solar has got serious challenges to our grid, and those challenges, even if we explain it a hundred times, people do not understand what we are talking about,” he said.
“We have a limit on how much solar to put on a small grid such as the Namibian grid," he explained.
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