NamPower signed a contractual agreement on Wednesday with Shandong Electrical, Engineering, and Equipment Group Co. Ltd and Zhejiang Narada Power Source Co., Ltd JV for the development of the Omburu Battery Energy Storage System with a capacity of 54MW.
The project is grant-funded through the KfW Development Bank to the value of N$400 million.
Construction is set to begin between February and March next year, within 18 months.
Its lifecycle is pegged at 10 years but can also extend up to 19 years depending on the charging and discharge.
On its part, the national power utility has set aside an investment of N$100 million towards the construction of the transmission interconnection, technical advisory, project management, and an owner’s engineer.
NamPower Managing Director Simson Kahenge Haulofu said the Omburu BESS will alleviate challenges posed by underforecasting the energy demand which currently leads to sourcing expensive emergency energy from Eskom or the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).
“This project will play a pivotal role by mitigating the impact of underforecasting by offering rapid and responsive energy supply. While from our national center, the BESS will be able to immediately address the gap between the actual and forecasted demands,” he said.
In addition, the development will reduce reliance on expensive peaking plants and imports, as NamPower will be able to manage energy demand during off-peak times and discharging periods during peak times.
The project is part of NamPower’s five-year strategic plan, in which it aims to increase its renewable energy generation by 100MW by 2025.
By 2030, it targets to increase the share of renewable energy generation from 30% to 70%, likely reducing the high dependency on electricity imports while further promoting self-sufficiency.
Currently, Namibia has a power generation capacity of up to 486MW, while the national energy demand is over 600MW per annum.
Meanwhile, the contractor representative, Benny Jin, promised that the companies will construct a high-end power station by providing first-class technology and scientific management.
KfW Director for Namibia, Beatrice Lucke, said Namibia still has a long way to go in developing its renewable sector as more work and investments lie ahead.
“Therefore, we believe the BESS project together with NamPower’s renewable endeavor will offset fossil fuel use at existing NamPower coal plants. We, however, take note that clean energy is the future globally but it comes with its challenges of energy generation fluctuation from wind and solar,” said Lucke.
In addition, the National Planning Commission Executive Director, Wilhencia Uiras, said the development is a pivotal step in achieving the national energy goals.
