Brigitte Weidlich
3 August 2007
Windhoek — SOLAR-POWERED water heaters will soon be installed in all Government and parastatal buildings to save electricity, Mines and Energy Minister Erkki Nghimtina announced yesterday.
A 20-year off-grid electrification plan for remote areas with mainly solar power - to cost around N$136,7 million - will also be implemented.
Opening a conference on renewable energies, Nghimtina said Cabinet made the landmark decisions in June this year.
The solar water heaters would have to be manufactured in Namibia to boost the technology locally and to increase employment.
"These decisions need multi-sectoral ownership and cannot be the Ministry's baby alone," Nghimtina added.
At yesterday's event the second phase of the UN-funded Namrep (Namibian Renewable Energy Barrier Removal) project was also launched.
The UN Development Programme will inject N$70 million into Namrep over the next three years.
The project started in 2004 with the Ministry of Mines and Energy and promotes alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power, the training of solar energy technicians, and developing small loan schemes to enable people to buy solar lighting systems and solar water heaters.
According to Joseph Iita, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, only one third of the Namibian population has access to electricity - 230 000 households are not connected.
"The off-grid energy master plan approved by Cabinet.
will improve access to modern and clean energy services to remote and rural areas," Iita told the conference.
Namrep Chief Technical Advisor Shimweefeleni Hamutwe said there are about 97 000 electrical water heaters or geysers in Namibia, using about 106 Megawatt or 23 per cent of the country's electricity.
"This translates into approximately N$100 million spent on electricity just to heat water," Hamutwe added.
Installing solar water heaters would not only save 100 MW of the presently required 500 MW countrywide, but also give back N$100 million to the economy from the savings households and commercial users would make.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 The Namibian. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
