Diamond miner Namdeb plans to set up an 8 megawatt (MW) wind farm, to power its mining operations, the Windhoek Observer has established.
Namdeb, a 50/50 partnership between the Namibian government and global diamond giant De Beers, is said to be pushing the idea, as it seeks to reduce its power costs and move towards sustainable and renewable energy.
Although exact details of the multi-million dollar project remains sketchy, with the diamond miner preferring to remain mum, the company’s board is expected to come up with a final position on the matter at its next board meeting, which will be held next month.
“We are not at liberty to share the finer details, as we are still engaging key stakeholders to finalise our plans,” Namdeb spokesperson Pauline Thomas said in response to an inquiry from the Windhoek Observer.
Namdeb, which has land-based operations in Oranjemund and Lüderitz, is said to be looking at taking advantage of the weather conditions at its coastal operations, which is said to be suitable for sustaining the generation of power through wind energy.
Chamber of Mines Chief Executive Officer Veston Malango confirmed that the diamond producer was toying with the idea of a wind farm during the recently held Mining Expo.
“They are talking about it and those are their plans,” he said.
Malango said mining firms have decided to implement their own power solutions, due to the uncertainty over supplies, and delays by NamPower to connect them.
“B2Gold put up their own brand new heavy fuel plant, which is expensive to run, but that is what they are using to run their operations,” Malango said.
The development comes as the chamber has raised concerns over the continued uncertainty surrounding the country`s power supply situation, a position that has seen Namibia rely on importing 60 percent of its requirements, to augment local supplies.
“If we are talking about it that means we are concerned. We have asked to contribute the excess capacity that our members have to the national grid, but NamPower is dilly-dallying,” Malango said.
According to Ministry of Mines and Energy figures, the country imported power worth N$3 billion last year from neighbouring countries to avert power outages, with the bill expected to surge on the back of rising tariffs from its suppliers - a situation worsened by a weak local currency. According to the Electricity Control Board (ECB), the substantial shortage of energy in the Southern Africa region is putting pressure on energy tariffs, a situation which will force NamPower to hike its tariff, as part of its cost recovery process. Namdeb’s plans come as the Lüderitz Town Council last year entered into a private-public partnership agreement with Innosun for the establishment of a 10MW wind farm in the town, a project in which it will have a 5 percent equity.
French company InnoVent is reported to be planning to set up a 150 to 500MW wind farm in the Tsau //Khaeb (Sperrgebiet) National Park.
Diaz Wind Park Company, a joint venture partnership between the United Africa Group (Namibia), Sojitz Corporation (Japan), and Korea Midland Power Co. Ltd. (South Korea) is also looking at constructing 18 to 22 wind turbines, at a cost of $150 million, capable of producing 44MW of electricity, which it hopes to sell to NamPower.