Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, South Africa’s minister of electricity, pledged the country’s commitment to continue supplying electricity to Namibia during a media briefing held in Windhoek.
According to the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation, Namibia currently generates approximately 40% of its required energy domestically, while the remaining 60% is imported from neighbouring countries through the Southern African Power Pool. 100 megawatts of this imported energy come from South Africa.
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The visit by the South African Minister is aimed at strengthening the bilateral relationship between the two countries, particularly in the area of energy affairs.
Despite facing energy shortages and consequent loadshedding for an extended period, Dr Ramokgopa emphasised that these challenges do not impact the energy supply South Africa provides to Namibia.
‘We will continue to give you the 100 megawatts; I don’t think that is at risk, and we will continue to see this kind of improvement, so we are confident about our prospects in addressing this. I see no reason why you should have sleepless nights about the 100 megawatts we are giving you,’ he assured.
Dr Ramokgopa highlighted the substantial progress South Africa has achieved in addressing its energy generation issues.
He stated, ‘The intensity of loadshedding is coming down. We continue to improve the reliability and efficiency of the units; we moved from a low of 48% to now being above 60%, and we continue to improve. There are projections that going into December we are going to make significant strides in the number of units, including other strides in other areas at 15%, so there is an opportunity for us to improve, and the power stage can give us an additional 1000 megawatts. Plus other megawatts, so we will be about 3000 megawatts.’
During discussions between the ministers, the Kudu gas-to-power project and green hydrogen were also on the agenda.
Tom Alweendo, Namibia’s minister of mines and energy, elaborated, ‘The discussions were around how SA can be part of the Kudu gas-to-power development so that we both benefit from this gas-to-power development. We also reflected on the fact that we both have a green hydrogen strategy and therefore, if we make sure that we collaborate our efforts so that we do not become competitors rather than collaborators in the effort of green hydrogen.’
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Picture:@Kgosientsho_R / Twitter
