Energy experts meet in City

ENERGY experts working for governments and the private sector of 16 African countries will meet in Windhoek today to discuss the power supply situation in southern Africa.

The two-day workshop is organised by the National Energy Council of Namibia, which is affiliated to the World Energy Council (WEC). According to Deputy Energy Minister Henock ya Kasita, the performance of power-generating plants in the region will be discussed as a priority.”This conference comes at a time of a looming power crisis in Namibia and the world and we can benefit from our delegates learning from the workshop,” Ya Kasita said at press conference at the end of last week.The annual general meeting of the Africa Region of WEC member states will be held at the end of the workshop.The South African power utility Eskom has a total capacity of 40 000 megawatt of electricity generation and it exports to neighbours like Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.Because of greater electricity demands within South Africa over the past few years, Eskom’s electricity supply capacity is dwindling and alternatives must be sought for southern Africa.”This topic will also be on the agenda during the meeting,” Ya Kasita said.Namibia established its own National Energy Council in 1993 under the Ministry of Mines and Energy.There are 53 countries in Africa and the WEC has member committees in 22 of them.About 65 per cent of Africa’s population do not have access to electricity.The main challenges facing the African energy sector are little access to modern technology, weak development of energy infrastructure, poor energy service quality, inefficient technologies, lack of financing and investment for energy projects and little technical expertise.According to Deputy Energy Minister Henock ya Kasita, the performance of power-generating plants in the region will be discussed as a priority.”This conference comes at a time of a looming power crisis in Namibia and the world and we can benefit from our delegates learning from the workshop,” Ya Kasita said at press conference at the end of last week.The annual general meeting of the Africa Region of WEC member states will be held at the end of the workshop.The South African power utility Eskom has a total capacity of 40 000 megawatt of electricity generation and it exports to neighbours like Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.Because of greater electricity demands within South Africa over the past few years, Eskom’s electricity supply capacity is dwindling and alternatives must be sought for southern Africa.”This topic will also be on the agenda during the meeting,” Ya Kasita said.Namibia established its own National Energy Council in 1993 under the Ministry of Mines and Energy.There are 53 countries in Africa and the WEC has member committees in 22 of them.About 65 per cent of Africa’s population do not have access to electricity.The main challenges facing the African energy sector are little access to modern technology, weak development of energy infrastructure, poor energy service quality, inefficient technologies, lack of financing and investment for energy projects and little technical expertise.