Namibia repositions hydro project

NAMIBIA - Nampower, Namibia's state-owned power utility, is proceeding with the Lower Orange Hydro Electrical Power scheme and is planning for the possible development of a number of distributed hydro plants on the Orange River, which flows into the South Atlantic on the southwest African coast.

The scheme would require up to 72 kilometers of tunnels, five kilometers of canals and 300 kilometers of roads to access the hydropower plants. There could be a total of nine power plants, each rated from a 6-megawatt MW to a 12-MW capacity, on the Lower Orange, which is estimated to have a total generation potential of between 80 MW and 120 MW.

Nampower has set a September 17 deadline for documented responses from companies or joint ventures that are able to undertake the project, and have suitable experience for the provision of consulting services. Nampower will pre-qualify companies from the content of the responses for the subsequent submission of firm tenders. Evaluation of the responses will cover the necessary financial, legal, technical, management-expertise, project-reference, insurability, compliance, quality-assurance, time frame and other requirements. Nampower also will look for consulting on electrical, mechanical, civil and building services, which will include modeling and hydrological auditing. Specification will be required for three new substations to transfer the power output from the scheme.

Namibia was one of the countries in southern and central Africa that had to re-think power plans after the Democratic Republic of the Congo DRC confirmed earlier this year that it will definitely pull out of the Inga 3 project on the Congo River, which was planned for development by the Western Power Corridor consortium Westcor, with members Namibia, Angola, Botswana, South Africa and the DRC.

The Inga project on the Congo River and a power trunk line connecting West and Southern Africa has been mooted and mulled over for the past decade. The power generation capacity from the mighty river has been estimated at about 39,000 MW, and the original Grand Inga scheme was to generate 8,000 MW, which was scaled down in the Inga 3 scheme to an initial 3,500 MW in 2012, rising to 5,000 MW by 2015. Namibia, Angola and Botswana were to share 1,000 MW of the output with South Africa and the DRC, taking 2,000 MW each with a total project cost of $6.35 billion.

With the DRC now going it alone, there still appears to remain an intention by the other four members of consortium to develop regional power plans. Westcor was reported to be considering a 6,000-MW project on the Cuanza River in Angola and a 1,600-MW Kunene River project in Namibia. The DRC was said to have diverted its allegiance to a 2,500-MW hydropower plant to feed a BHP Billiton aluminum smelter.

The fate of the Congo's total generating power has been further complicated by the prospect of the Inter Basin Water Transfer IBWT, in which 900 cubic meters of water would be diverted over 1,350 kilometers from a Congo tributary, the Oubangui River, through river systems to Lake Chad. Feeding the drought-prone Lake Chad Basin could deprive other countries feeding off the larger Congo system and reduce power generation potential. The IBWT would generate 700 MW and revive the LCB system and agriculture, and reverse the area's population flight. There are a number of potential conflicts in Africa over major water resources and intense planning is taking place as the prospect of weather change presents complications. The IBWT proposal will generate intense discussion in the next year.

Namibia's power needs are modest, with peak demand standing at 450 MW. Nampower has a number of projects, in addition to the Lower Orange Hydro Electrical Power scheme, under development and will commission an additional 80 MW for the 420-MW Ruacana hydropower station in 2012. The Kudu offshore gas field and a coal-fed power station at Walvis Bay also are in the mix. Mining and industry developments will push demand higher through 2015, and Namibia's part in regional power schemes will continue to be important in terms of resources and power politics.