The newly upgraded solar plant for Anirep-HopSol Africa at Otjiwarongo was commissioned on Thursday.
Otjozondjupa Regional Council chairperson Paulus Nekundi commissioned the plant on behalf of minister of industries, mines and energy Modestus Amutse, and led a site tour of the plant situated about three kilometres west of Otjiwarongo.
In a statement read on his behalf, Amutse notes that the plant will contribute roughly 11 megawatts of electricity to the national grid.
The power is converted from direct current to alternating current before being distributed via the Central North Regional Electricity Distributor’s (Cenored) overhead lines.
Amutse clarifies that the solar plant is not a replacement for traditional power, but rather a strategic addition to Cenored’s “electricity bank.”
“The project is a symbol of innovation and investment into a modern reliable power supply through the green energy system,” he says.
Anirep managing director Iyaloo Nangolo at the event stated that this project represents the first-ever solar generation facility in the country to be backed by modern battery storage.
Initially the Otjiwarongo HopSol solar plant inaugurated in 2015 only generated about five megawatts and with the new expansion, the entire solar plant will be able to generate about 13 megawatts.
“Since Otjiwarongo consumes about 10 megawatts at the moment, the plant will have surplus electricity to be stored in the system, backed up with the solar batteries which can also produce electricity at night or when cloudy,” Nangolo said.
The plant was upgraded at a cost of over N$200 million from June 2024 to February this year, with a total of 48 000 solar panels now, he said.
HopSol Africa chief executive Silvester Wayiti and several business partners of Cenored, the Namibia Power Corporation and Huawei Technologies Namibia also attended.
Anirep owns the Otjiwarongo HopSol plant, said Wayiti.
–Nampa
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