Energy ministry launches service agreement with southern electricity distributor

The Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy on Friday launched a service level agreement with the Southern Regional Electricity Distributor (Sored) during a groundbreaking ceremony at the Aimablaagte Extension 5 informal settlement in Mariental.

The peri-urban electrification project between Sored and the government is expected to benefit both the Hardap and ǁKharas regions. The programme builds on work already undertaken in the two regions while also representing a significant scale-up.

“It is a renewal of government’s promise to work with communities, through their elected and leadership, to ensure that access to electricity reaches every household, regardless of location or income level,” the minister of industries, mines and energy, Modestus Amutse, said.

Under the service level agreement between the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy and Sored, the government has allocated N$12 million to electrify 969 peri-urban households across the Hardap and ǁKharas regions. The projects will benefit communities at Rehoboth, Mariental, Aranos, Hoachanas and Gibeon, as well as Aroab, Bethanie, Berseba, Aus, Grünau and Warmbad.

“Looking ahead, the ministry is not stopping at N$12 million. Our intention is to increase this allocation to at least N$20 million, and potentially more, as we strengthen partnerships with other stakeholders and funding partners,” Amutse said.

A total of 969 peri-urban households have been identified across the two regions to be electrified by Sored.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Amutse highlighted the importance of collaboration and acknowledged the contributions of N$2.5 million made by the Rehoboth Town Council and N$1.5 million by the Mariental Municipality.

The government is promoting solar solutions for areas with challenging grid connections by offering affordable financing through a solar revolving fund and partnering with initiatives such as Mission 300 to expand electricity access.

“Electricity infrastructure is expensive to build and even more expensive to maintain over long distances. If we attempt to solve every challenge through grid extension alone, we will slow ourselves down,” Amutse said.

The projects launched by the minister on Friday are already transitioning from planning to implementation. Contractors for Mariental and Rehoboth have been appointed, work at Aroab has already commenced, and procurement processes for the remaining towns have been concluded, with implementation to follow shortly. – Nampa

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