Nampower, Greenam deal adds 20 MW to grid
Namibia’s national energy utility continues to make strides in its efforts to secure national electricity supplies, yesterday signing its second major agreement with independent power producers (IPPs) for renewable power.
At a press conference in Windhoek, NamPower signed power purchase and transmission connection agreements with Greenam Electricity.
The agreements outline the Israeli-headquartered company’s expected provision of a total 20 MW of electricity from two solar photovoltaic power plants.
“Greenam will be providing NamPower with electricity from two 10 MW photovoltaic power plants that will be constructed at Kokerboom near Keetmanshoop, and near Mariental,” NamPower acting CEO Kahenge Haulofu told reporters.
“Many will say that the reason it took so long to reach this point is because of NamPower’s reluctance to ensure private investment in the energy sector. These claims have been made before by many, but are not true,” he said.
Explaining the project as part of NamPower’s Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff (REFIT) programme started in 2011, Haulofu said the initiative was meant to fast-track investment in renewable energy technologies by offering long-term contracts to renewable energy IPPs, typically based on the cost of generation for each technology.
“A capacity of 70 MW is expected to be generated through the REFIT programme, which translates to 14 IPPs each generating 5 MW,” he said.
Thirteen of the IPPs being worked with are involved in PV solar technologies, while one specialises in wind power.
The first of these IPPs to sign a PPA with Nampower was InnoSun Energy Holdings, in 2013.
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