Petronella Sibeene
11 April 2008
Windhoek — Regional Electricity Regulators Association (RERA) of Southern Africa says consumers should brace for harsh times as electricity tariff increases become inevitable in a region plagued by massive power deficits.
Executive secretary of RERA, Elijah Sichone, told New Era that projects envisaged to commission in 2010 onwards would cost power utilities in the region of billions of dollars.
This will make electricity an expensive commodity in a region where tariffs have virtually been low for years.
South Africa's power utility Eskom recently proposed a 53 percent tariff hike while Namibia is likely to pass a 40 percent tariff increase in the next two to three years according to the Electricity Control Board (ECB).
Rehabilitation and associated infrastructure projects for Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) is estimated at US$1 billon.
Projects that will be commissioned by 2010 will cost US$3.9 billion while those in the long-term will approximately need capital of about US$41.5 billion.
Since 2005, the demand for electricity has grown from 40511 megawatts to 43780 megawatts. Last year, the supply level was 46391 megawatts giving rise to a net surplus of less than 2600 megawatts.
While SAPP would like to have a reserve margin of 10.2 percent, the current electricity demand does not allow for this.
"SAPP aims to maintain a minimum reserve capacity level of 10.2 percent. It is evident that the current generation capacity is not adequate to meet the load in SAPP," Sichone said.
The region might only have adequate power supply by 2013 when all the planned projects would have been commissioned.
Sichone said Namibia needs a national response plan that will communicate strategies in place with all relevant stakeholders.
A national response plan, according to Sichone, is crucial especially in the near future where electricity situation in the country like any other Southern African nation is likely to be tough.
So far, NamPower has managed the situation well with Namibia being one of the few countries in the region where load shedding has not really been implemented and felt.
Rains have enabled NamPower to run the Ruacana power station on full steam.
By July when the water levels drops, Sichone warned that the utility might have to depend heavily on running expensive Van Eck and diesel operated Paratus.
Sichone urged Namibians to reduce their demand for electricity by implementing simple measures such as switching off all electronic appliances when not in use.
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