Namibia’s Electricity Control Board (ECB) says the country’s current electricity demand at 750 megawatts, falls short of the 1,000 megawatts required for a viable nuclear plant.
ECB Executive for Technical Regulation, Petrus Johannes, said the possibility of establishing smaller 300 megawatt plants exists but could lead to higher cost implications for consumers.
“Referring to the national Integrated Resource Plan, a tool assessing potential energy generation options, we prioritise cost-effective solutions tailored to our size. With our current demand at 750 megawatts, a nuclear plant requires at least one gigawatt to be feasible,” he said.
He added that based on that planning tool, uranium was considered but excluded due to cost implications that would ultimately affect consumers.
“There is potential for having three highly impactful nuclear plants. That’s the challenge—it’s not going to be straightforward. Consider the long timeframe. The smaller the scale, the higher the cost, which poses the primary challenge,” he said.
Headspring Investments, the Namibian arm of Russian nuclear giant Rosatom, is exploring the possibility of building Namibia’s first nuclear power plant within the next six years.
This comes as Namibia, already the world’s third-largest uranium producer experiences a surge in uranium prices but imports most of its electricity from neighbouring countries, including South Africa and Zambia.
Namibia imports some 60% of its electricity needs from neighbouring countries and the energy ministry has set a target to reduce the import gap from the current 60% to only 20% by 2028.
Tjekero Tweya, head of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources, contends that despite Namibia’s wealth in resources like uranium, the country’s focus on exporting rather than harnessing them domestically for energy is short-sighted.
“Rectifying this situation is within our grasp, yet there’s a palpable lack of strategic planning to leverage our resources for domestic energy,” Tweya said at the Atomexpo 2024 International Forum in Sochi, Russia.
He dismissed the excuse of skill and technology shortages, highlighting the absence of concrete efforts to bridge this gap and tap into Namibia’s energy potential.
Tweya emphasised that the current approach overlooks the opportunity for cheaper energy and broader coverage if resources were utilised at home.
