Namibia has secured N$2 billion from the World Bank for the expansion of its transmission network, and for the integration of renewable energy into the national power grid.
The first-ever World Bank-financed energy project for Namibia, worth US$138.5 million (N$2.6 billion) was approved on Monday.
The Transmission Expansion and Energy Storage (TEES) Project is intended to improve the reliability of the country’s transmission network, and enable increased integration of renewable energy into the domestic electricity system.
It is structured around three components: the development of the second Auas-Kokerboom transmission line, the development of a utility- scale Battery Energy Storage System facility; and technical assistance activities to support NamPower to develop bankable renewable energy projects, and enhancing the socio-economic benefits of their projects.
The project will support the development of a systematic socio-economic framework to support job creation, skills development and female employment during the design and implementation of utility-led projects.
NamPower managing director, Kahenge Haulofu welcomed the approval of the project, as this serves as a major milestone in the development of the approximately 465km line, which will run from Auas transmission station outside Windhoek to the Kokerboom transmission station near Keetmanshoop.
At the beginning of 2023, Haulofu said the national power utility lost N$2 billion, after announcing N$1.1 billion in profit in 2022.
The Auas-Kokerboom 400kV transmission line will be the second 400kV line between these two, which serves to increase NamPower’s north-south transmission capacity. The line will make use of the highly efficient 422 series of towers, utilising a compaction cross-delta conductor’s arrangement.
“This is one of the major strategic and crucial investments towards the Namibian electricity transmission network. Once completed, it will allow NamPower to maintain pace with the evolving and increasing electricity needs of the country. This transmission line will be key to unlocking increased access to Variable Renewable Energy within Namibia, as well as facilitating regional electricity trading. Further, our second utility scale Battery Energy Storage System will be developed and integrated into our transmission network to support the development and uptake of renewable energy plants,” said Haulofu.
The Battery Energy Storage System, which will form part of the TEES project, will be connected to the Lithops Substation in the Erongo region. The envisaged size of the BESS will be 45MW/90MWh.
Lithops was chosen as the location for the project because it is situated near a key load centre, which mainly consists of large mines.
“As such, the BESS can reduce inrush currents seen by the transformers when heavy mining equipment is operated,” NamPower stated.
The area surrounding Lithops is expected to be home to upcoming Solar Photovoltaic (PV) power plants with significant capacity. With this in mind, the BESS can store any excess energy produced by these plants with minimal grid losses.
The expansion of the electricity network and lines is necessary to provide for current and future national load requirements as the needs of an expanding Namibian population will require, including the needs of a growing economy. This will include not only an increase in capacity, but also the redundant capacity within the transmission system to ensure the security of supply due to unforeseen circumstances.
World Bank Country Director for Namibia, Satu Kahkonen, said: “Namibia is a uniquely-positioned regional leader in the transition towards a greener and more sustainable future.
The World Bank is delighted to support Namibia’s commitment to expand domestic energy-generation with renewable solutions, consistent with the country’s Second Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPPII). This project will support NamPower to develop future renewable energy projects”.
Namibia’s National Energy Policy and the Renewable Energy Policy are targeting to achieve 85% self-sufficiency, and source 70% of its energy needs from renewable energy sources in future.