Eveline de Klerk
Walvis Bay-The Walvis Bay Town Council has in principle granted a Chinese investor who wants to set up a multi-million dollar natural gas plant at Namibia’s main harbour town 20,000 square metres of land.
Huimin Natural Gas Investment (HNGI, an established Chinese gas company, wants to develop the natural gas plant in partnership with a Namibian company at Farm 38, situated outside Walvis Bay.
The company has scheduled to have the plant up and running within the next three years, if everything goes according to plan.
Speaking about the project to New Era yesterday, a representative of HNGI, Kathryn Lee, said that although the project was still in its early stages, the company was keen on bringing the development to Namibia.
“Natural gas is not new to us. In China everybody uses it in their homes, and thus we want to introduce it to Namibia as well, as it is clean and safe for the environment,” she explained.
She added that the next step for HNGI is to partner with Namibians to set up and register a Namibian company.
“If all goes according to plan, this project will create much needed jobs and will also have many economic benefits, while also addressing the energy shortages in the country. However we are still in the planning stages,” she said.
Walvis Bay Town Council said NHGI made a presentation on April 26 and the council supported the idea because it was in line with government’s aim to develop Walvis Bay as a logistics hub in Africa.
Council added that Walvis Bay had experienced significant growth over the past 10 years and it still expected further growth.
“Therefore council will create a conducive environment for all interested developers to invest in the town,” it said.
The council recommended the applicant submit a concise project proposal that indicated the timeline, planning activities and a formal request to lease the land within the next six months.