Long-awaited Kudu gas up and running by 2010

THE long-awaited N$5 billion Kudu gas project might become a reality by next year.

Construction could start after a final investment decision is made in the second quarter of 2007. The main issues still being negotiated are the sales supply agreement for gas supplied to a planned power station near Oranjemund and what South Africa would pay for power generated there, the Managing Director of NamPower, Paulinus Shilamba, said yesterday.Briefing the media on the developments, Shilamba said one of the joint-venture partners, Tullow Oil, wanted transactions done in US dollars, while Namibia would prefer the local currency.”The electricity generated at Oranjemund from the gas will be sold to Namibia in local currency and excess power to South Africa in rand.The exchange rate with the US dollar is very volatile and we cannot have fluctuating electricity prices for consumers due to the exchange rate,” Shilamba said.”The power purchasing agreement with the South African power utility Eskom is being discussed right now today in Johannesburg,” the NamPower boss stated.Phase One of the Kudu gas plant is envisaged to provide 400 megawatt (MW) of electricity, which is more than Namibia consumes, and the surplus power will be sold to South Africa.NEW TRANSMISSION LINES A second 400 MW plant will be erected at a later stage.”We are confident that electricity supply from Kudu will come in the second half of 2010,” Shilamba stated.He further mentioned that the transmission line between Livingstone in Zambia and Katima Mulilo had been strengthened.”Since September this year Katima Mulilo and its environs are supplied via a 220 kilovolt line from Livingstone at the Victoria Falls.New converter substations will come for the Zambezi substation and to Gerus between Otjiwarongo and Outjo,” Shilamba said.A new transmission line from the Auas substation east of Windhoek is also in the pipeline, which would be 285 kilometres long and lead to Gerus.Construction of the 970-km power line from Gerus to Katima will start early next year and be completed by the middle of 2009.It will cost over N$3 billion.”This is an important link, not only for Namibia but for the SADC region, as we can negotiate with Zimbabwe and Botswana to tap on their electricity resources there,” the NamPower MD explained.The new line would ensure that electricity outages as experienced in Namibia last winter would not be repeated.”We can use the new Caprivi link to wheel power [trade electricity] to and from South Africa and other countries in the region.”Only recently NamPower signed a new electricity purchase agreement with South Africa’s power utility Eskom, which will stretch over 15 years.Details about the new price were not disclosed.The old agreement was valid for ten years.After years of reluctance, NamPower will now embrace renewable energies like solar and wind power as well as bio-energy sources coming from biogas or electricity generated from biomass such as invader bush on farms.”We have created a new section under the Energy Trading and New Works Business Unit in July to spearhead renewable energies and facilitate their implementation,” Shilamba told reporters yesterday.The intention was to develop a joint-venture policy with prospective renewable energy producers and establish power purchase agreements with them.”We are inviting experienced renewable energy power plant developers and prospective investors to submit their profiles and to propose joint ventures to NamPower to plan, develop and operate renewable energy stations in Namibia,” said Shilamba.BAYNES PROJECT The envisaged hydropower project on the Kunene River near the Baynes Mountains was still on the cards, according to NamPower.At this stage it is a government-to-government project (between Namibia and Angola) and is still being negotiated through the Permanent Joint Technical Commission (PJTC).”NamPower is hopeful that this project will soon be realised,” Shilamba said.The main issues still being negotiated are the sales supply agreement for gas supplied to a planned power station near Oranjemund and what South Africa would pay for power generated there, the Managing Director of NamPower, Paulinus Shilamba, said yesterday.Briefing the media on the developments, Shilamba said one of the joint-venture partners, Tullow Oil, wanted transactions done in US dollars, while Namibia would prefer the local currency.”The electricity generated at Oranjemund from the gas will be sold to Namibia in local currency and excess power to South Africa in rand.The exchange rate with the US dollar is very volatile and we cannot have fluctuating electricity prices for consumers due to the exchange rate,” Shilamba said.”The power purchasing agreement with the South African power utility Eskom is being discussed right now today in Johannesburg,” the NamPower boss stated.Phase One of the Kudu gas plant is envisaged to provide 400 megawatt (MW) of electricity, which is more than Namibia consumes, and the surplus power will be sold to South Africa. NEW TRANSMISSION LINES A second 400 MW plant will be erected at a later stage.”We are confident that electricity supply from Kudu will come in the second half of 2010,” Shilamba stated.He further mentioned that the transmission line between Livingstone in Zambia and Katima Mulilo had been strengthened.”Since September this year Katima Mulilo and its environs are supplied via a 220 kilovolt line from Livingstone at the Victoria Falls.New converter substations will come for the Zambezi substation and to Gerus between Otjiwarongo and Outjo,” Shilamba said.A new transmission line from the Auas substation east of Windhoek is also in the pipeline, which would be 285 kilometres long and lead to Gerus.Construction of the 970-km power line from Gerus to Katima will start early next year and be completed by the middle of 2009.It will cost over N$3 billion.”This is an important link, not only for Namibia but for the SADC region, as we can negotiate with Zimbabwe and Botswana to tap on their electricity resources there,” the NamPower MD explained.The new line would ensure that electricity outages as experienced in Namibia last winter would not be repeated.”We can use the new Caprivi link to wheel power [trade electricity] to and from South Africa and other countries in the region.”Only recently NamPower signed a new electricity purchase agreement with South Africa’s power utility Eskom, which will stretch over 15 years.Details about the new price were not disclosed.The old agreement was valid for ten years.After years of reluctance, NamPower will now embrace renewable energies like solar and wind power as well as bio-energy sources coming from biogas or electricity generated from biomass such as invader bush on farms.”We have created a new section under the Energy Trading and New Works Business Unit in July to spearhead renewable energies and facilitate their implementation,” Shilamba told reporters yesterday.The intention was to develop a joint-venture policy with prospective renewable energy producers and establish power purchase agreements with them.”We are inviting experienced renewable energy power plant developers and prospective investors to submit their profiles and to propose joint ventures to NamPower to plan, develop and operate renewable energy stations in Namibia,” said Shilamba.BAYNES PROJECT The envisaged hydropower project on the Kunene River near the Baynes Mountains was still on the cards, according to NamPower.At this stage it is a government-to-government project (between Namibia and Angola) and is still being negotiated through the Permanent Joint Technical Commission (PJTC).”NamPower is hopeful that this project will soon be realised,” Shilamba said.