Popa hydropower scheme reaches the feasibility stage

NAMPOWER has been given the go-ahead by the Okavango River Basin Water Commission (Okacom) to start with full feasibility studies to gauge the viability of a hydropower scheme at Popa Falls near Divundu.

A preliminary environmental impact assessment (EIA) and technical studies were completed and handed to Okacom late last year and, at their last meeting at the end of last month, the three countries sharing the basin – Angola, Botswana and Namibia – pledged their continued involvement to the next phase of the project. NamPower said on Friday that they had not yet been formally informed of the decision and could not immediately shed light on how it would proceed.Should the power utility decide to pursue a fully-fledged study, it could take at least another two to three years before yielding acceptable results.The pre-feasibility study indicates that 20 megawatts of power could be generated at any site.Preliminary environmental studies, which were presented to Okacom, noted that plants, birds, animals and fish upstream in the immediate vicinity of the project, and downstream of the scheme, could be affected by the development.This aspect has been a major sticking point raised particularly by Botswana:that failure to supply sediment downstream would have consequences for wetland species downstream from the swamps.Each of the five sites proposed for the building of a weir also present their own complications – both environmentally and socio-economically – in terms of existing settlements and people’s livelihood.The original site on the lip of the falls, proposed as the best site for the power station according to the 1969 Water Affairs Study, was not considered as an option because of the obvious environmental, tourism and visual impact it would have.So far, NamPower has spent about N$4,5 million on pre-feasibility studies – a third of which has gone to environmental investigations.The scheme would go a long way towards providing a more secure and reliable electricity supply to the north-eastern regions of the country.But even if NamPower was to forge ahead with the scheme, the power utility has said it would still need to find a bigger source of power for the country.Currently, more than 50 per cent of the country’s supply is imported from South Africa which, at this point, is also hard-pressed to provide for its own domestic needs.As a result, the company is also vigorously pursuing the viability of exploiting the gas fields off the Oranjemund coast as its first option.It is envisaged that the Kudu Gas Project could unleash about 800 megawatts of power for at least 20 years – more than double Namibia’s current requirement of about 380 megawatts.This would also put the country in a position to export the surplus.NamPower said on Friday that they had not yet been formally informed of the decision and could not immediately shed light on how it would proceed.Should the power utility decide to pursue a fully-fledged study, it could take at least another two to three years before yielding acceptable results.The pre-feasibility study indicates that 20 megawatts of power could be generated at any site.Preliminary environmental studies, which were presented to Okacom, noted that plants, birds, animals and fish upstream in the immediate vicinity of the project, and downstream of the scheme, could be affected by the development.This aspect has been a major sticking point raised particularly by Botswana:that failure to supply sediment downstream would have consequences for wetland species downstream from the swamps.Each of the five sites proposed for the building of a weir also present their own complications – both environmentally and socio-economically – in terms of existing settlements and people’s livelihood.The original site on the lip of the falls, proposed as the best site for the power station according to the 1969 Water Affairs Study, was not considered as an option because of the obvious environmental, tourism and visual impact it would have.So far, NamPower has spent about N$4,5 million on pre-feasibility studies – a third of which has gone to environmental investigations.The scheme would go a long way towards providing a more secure and reliable electricity supply to the north-eastern regions of the country.But even if NamPower was to forge ahead with the scheme, the power utility has said it would still need to find a bigger source of power for the country.Currently, more than 50 per cent of the country’s supply is imported from South Africa which, at this point, is also hard-pressed to provide for its own domestic needs.As a result, the company is also vigorously pursuing the viability of exploiting the gas fields off the Oranjemund coast as its first option.It is envisaged that the Kudu Gas Project could unleash about 800 megawatts of power for at least 20 years – more than double Namibia’s current requirement of about 380 megawatts.This would also put the country in a position to export the surplus.