- NamPower has received a €20 million grant from KfW for its energy storage project.
- The project seeks to lower the cost of electricity supplied by the Southern African Power Pool.
- NamPower is constructing a 20MWp solar PV plant in Emburu.
German development agency Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) has given a €20 million grant to the Namibia Power Corporation (NamPower). The funds will enable the utility company to deploy a large-scale electricity storage system in Omburu town in the Erongo region. NamPower will provide 20 per cent of the total cost of the storage project and connect the future storage system to the country’s national power grid via the Umburu substation. The 58MW/72MWh, energy storage system will store electricity during off-peak hours when the price is low and feed it back into the Namibian grid during peak hours.
This project by NamPower’s aims to stabilize its grid and provide a backup power source when there is a failure in current generation infrastructure. The project will also reduce the cost of electricity by lowering the quantity of power supplied by the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).
The future storage system will add value to intermittently producing renewable energy plants. NamPower is constructing a solar photovoltaic power plant in Emburu. The solar park, which will have a capacity of 20MWp, is being built on 20 hectares of land by a consortium led by Hopsol Africa and Tulive Private Equity. The solar PV plant will supply enough power to meet the energy needs of 20,000 Namibian households.