Namibia to get new biomass power plants

Namibian power utility NamPower is building new biomass power plants to boost electricity generation in the country, according to media reports.

According to news channel Namibian, NamPower managing director Simson Haulofu said in an interview that tenders will soon go out for a 40MW biomass power plant at Otjiwarongo and another 20MW power plant around the Otavi area.

A third 150MW concentrated solar power (CSP) plant will be built in the Arandis area.

“We are working on projects to be put to tender around September this year,” Haulofu said in the interview, the Namibian reported. “We should, however, put the 40MW plant immediately, and then another one, which is 20 MW, will be built through a public private partnership.”

He said NamPower will take up 51% stake in the power plants and farm out 49% to interested investors, including contractors and financial institutions.

The power utility said it will likely finance its 51% stake through a combination of its own cash reserves and loans.

“We will put 30% cash into our 51% ownership, and the other 70 we can go to financial institutions. We are also likely to put up bonds onto the market,” Haulofu said.

Construction of the CSP power plant will take up to three- and-a-half years, while no timelines were given for the completion of the biomass power plant.

Namibia is a net importer of electricity with an installed capacity of 513.5MW, according to the news channel. The country is home to the Kudu gas fields, which have proven and probable recoverable reserves estimated at more than 3.3 trillion cubic feet, the Namibian reported