By: Nghiinomenwa Erastus
For the past 14 months, local electricity generation (Nampower and Independent Power Producers) have struggled to produce 100 000MWh monthly.
The average local monthly generation has been around 72 265,3 MWh while monthly imports are 266 849,7MWh.
As a result, it is worsening the country’s electricity import/dependence- the Electricity Sectoral Reports as compiled by Namibia Statistics Agency shows.
The last time the country reached 100 000 MWh in a generation was in December 2020.
The February 2022 sectoral report shows that January and February are associated with high local generations, given the increase in water flow at the Kunene waterfall.
However, that was not the case last year as the local generation fell below 100 000 MWh.
As the local generation dwindles, the country resorts more to imports channelling more money into buying electricity, mainly from Eskom, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the Southern Africa Power Pool.
Analysis of the monthly sectoral reports shows that Eskom is the biggest supplier as it has been for years. However, with load shedding in South Africa, the risk of relying on the utility increases.
It has been noted that every loading shedding stage comes with low supply to Namibia- The Villager has reached out to Nampower for more details on the loading shedding supply reduction.
Last week South African media reported that Eskom might unleash stage 4 load shedding, which will come with a bigger reduction in Supply to Namibia.
The monthly reports also indicate that the country relies heavily on the Ruacana Hydro Power, contributing around 61 per cent of local monthly generation while the rest comes from Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
The country’s monthly electricity need, as represented by domestic sales for the past 14 months, has been between 271 421 MWh and 301 000 MWh
The domestic sales were mainly sold to redistributors- LPU (more than 60 per cent), followed by the mining sector, then Eskom Orange River.
Despite low local generation, the country sacrifices some of its power for more revenue. For the past 14 months, Angola accounted for more than 40 per cent of electricity exports, followed by Botswana.
The country’s electricity export has been between 8 915 MWh and 10 964 MWh.
During the Energy conference, the Mines and Energy Minister Alweendo acknowledged that the continent does not have access to energy. Where it has, it is not sufficient for the continent’s needs.
“We have an energy crisis spilling its havoc on economic, social, and political issues,” stated Alweendo.
He indicated that over 600 million Africans do not have access to electricity.
According to Alweendo, the main issue is infrastructure deficits, an insufficient critical investment in the energy sector, and unhelpful regulatory frameworks that do not encourage investment in the energy sector.
“It is therefore important for us on the continent to start making radical but informed measures on how to tackle the energy deficit. It is time that we become the main drivers of Africa’s future,” he told the conference.
Email: erastus@thevillager.com.na
