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dam-l Wind Park in Namibia/LS
First wind park to cost US$ 56 mill
* Bryony Simmonds
A decision was recently taken by the Ministry of Mines and Energy to
construct the first wind park in Namibia. The 10 megawatt wind park will be
built in Luderitz at the cost of US$56 million.
This decision is based on an in-depth feasibility study which was conducted
in cooperation with the German development agency (GTZ) and completed
during 1998. The feasibility study focused on two prospective sites for a
wind park, namely Luderitz and Walvis Bay. Findings were discussed on 9
February 1999, at a closed conference between the Ministry’s Directorate of
Energy, NamPower, delegates of the Walvis Bay and Luderitz Municipalities
and invited stakeholders. Luderitz was chosen to be the venue of this new
park, as it hosts a greater output wind potential.
The wind park will consist of 16 towers, each with a height of more than 50
m, a rotorblade length of about 25 m and a capacity of 600 kW , and will be
erected outside the town, where wind speeds of up to 8 meters per second
have been recorded. The electricity produced will be fed into the existing
grid power line that connects Luderitz to the interior.
With this decision, the Ministry of Mines & Energy supports its commitment
to the promotion of solar and wind energy in Namibia, in a bid to secure an
environment friendly self-generating capacity of electricity, a commitment
clearly stated in the Ministry’s Energy White Paper.
The park will hopefully be partly funded by donors, and the ministry states
that a number of German companies have expressed interest The aim of the
field study and consequent report was to provide a realistic basis for
potential investors to make decisions on the financing of wind parks.
The possibility of an electricity levy being used to finance the project in
case there is a deficit after grant and government funding has been sourced
seems credible and feasible. However, this would have negative impacts
particularly on large consumers whose bills may rise considerably.
Possibilities of obtaining concessional funding needs to be explored
especially from some countries such as Japan who have offered loans at
extremely low interest rates.
The extent to which a wind park would contribute towards job creation is
limited since it is a highly technical operation with most machines
designed to operate with minimal human attention. Other major, short-lived
spin-offs such as jobs for road construction will go with the project. The
major benefit however lies in the provision of clean energy and hence
environmental protection.
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(c) 1998 The Namibia Economist
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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