Surihe Gaomas
26 September 2005
Windhoek — THE Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) and regional and international financiers will be meeting in Johannesburg South Africa in November this year to facilitate funding for potentially viable electricity projects in the SADC region.
Energy ministers and investors took this resolution at the end of the three-day SADC Regional Electricity Investment Conference that took place this week in Windhoek.
Officially closing the conference on Wednesday, the Minister of Mines and Energy Errki Nghimtina described the event as a success, saying that various discussions and presentations have been conducted in not only identifying potential electricity projects that need funding, but towards helping the region to address its pressing electricity deficit projected to plunge the region in darkness by 2007.
The minister said what remains now is for the SAPP together with the Regional Electricity Regulators Association (RERA) and national regulators to consult investors in order to bring investment to Southern Africa - a move that is to take place in Johannesburg, South Africa come November this year.
During the conference held in Windhoek, discussions and presentations were conducted about potential alternative means of electricity generation and transmission. Some of these included the much talked about 100 000 megawatt hydropower project from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to several African countries and beyond.
Under its proper name, the Western Corridor Power Project, envisaged for 2010, would supply power not only to Namibia, but also to Angola, Botswana and South Africa.
On their part, the Ministry of Mines and Energy and NamPower see great potential in the 800 Megawatt Kudu Gas Project envisaged for the year 2009. In an effort to address the power shortcomings expected in 2007, South Africa and Namibia are currently busy negotiating the possible extension of the Nampower-Eskom contract.
In an interview, Chief Executive of Eskom Thulani Gcabashe said with the setting up of two Open Cycle Gas Turbines in 2007 and 2008 respectively as well as a pump storage scheme in 2012, the country would be able to supply electricity to its existing customers depending on their current loads to Namibia, Swaziland, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
Through refurbishing its current hydropower system, Zambia and Namibia plan to also share its energy sources through the US$15-million Zambia-Caprivi 220 power kilowatt line.
The objective of the conference was mainly to facilitate funding and investment in SADC's short and long term generation and transmission projects, identify the potential projects' financial needs as well as pinpoint potential investors in the SADC electricity sector.
An overview was also done on the investment climate in the power sector as the over 300 delegates also analysed the experiences of large and other investors and kept abreast with developments in RERA and SAPP.
The conference was held under the theme "Emerging Investment Opportunities for Sustainable Development in the Southern African Power Sector."
Now that Southern African energy ministers and experts have completed deliberating on potential projects for increasing the generation and transmission of electricity in the region for the next 10-15 years and beyond, the ball is now in the hands of the regional and international investors to finance these projects.
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