Client: Africa Energy Corporation (Pty) Ltd
Location: Namibia
POWER is providing development support in the form of preliminary engineering, financial modeling, and tender documents for two solar photovoltaic farms in west-central Namibia. The plants would provide power to the local communities and to the local power delivery grid. They are being developed by Africa Energy Corporation (Pty) Ltd (AEC), which has shareholders in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and the United States. The projects are backed by a grant from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the private investment arm of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. As envisioned by AEC, the projects are:
5 MW Walvis Bay project to provide power to an industrial area adjacent to the Walvis Bay Airport. It is approximately 15 kilometers east of the city of Walvis Bay, Namibia’s primary fishing and shipping port.
3 MW Arandis project to provide power to the town of Arandis, the support community for the Rossing Uranium Mine, the world’s largest producer of the uranium ore. The project would include a concentrated solar plant to supply a battery energy storage system for nighttime use and 24-hour power stabilization.
The financial models for the projects were performed to support negotiations for Power Purchase Agreements with the operators of the local grids and to verify the development potential of the sites. Engineering support is provided by POWER’s offices in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the United States. The current phase of the projects covers project feasibility, energy modeling, preliminary engineering, and tender document development. Separate funding will be provided for final design and installation of the projects. OPIC, AEC, and POWER set up a trilateral agreement to develop the projects.