Tsumkwe Energy Project: Namibia
Amanda Spake is a Washington, D.C.-based writer whose articles on health, science, education, and the environment have appeared in U.S. News and World Report, The Nation, and The Washington Post, among other publications.
The people of Tsumkwe, a settlement in Namibia's Otjozondjupa region, like many in Africa, do not have access to affordable or reliable electric power. Tsumkwe is Namibia's largest "off-grid" settlement, and NamPower, the nation's electric utility, did not plan to expand service to Tsumkwe for 20 years. Then a European Union-affiliated sustainable energy financing partnership approved a grant to set up a solar-diesel hybrid energy generation system there. Thanks to cooperation from local government and nongovernmental organizations, Tsumkwe will have a sustainable, off-grid power supply by the end of 2010. But success depends on acceptance of new methods by the Tsumkwe community.
Electrified homes in Tsumkwe are now supplied by a diesel-powered generating system, run by the Otjozondjupa Regional Council. The existing system is inefficient, polluting, and unreliable, and costs more than six times the U.S. average for electricity. Diesel's contribution to greenhouse gases aside, the price of the fuel alone, says Robert Schultz, Energy Desk Coordinator for the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia (DRFN), "makes solar energy more cost effective."
The European Union's ACP (Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific) Energy Facility is a financing partnership under the European Commission's External Cooperation Programmes (EuropeAid) to bring sustainable and affordable energy services to rural areas. ACP partners with civil society organizations, international organizations, E.U. national parliaments, and other institutions to deliver development funding. In response to an ACP call for proposals, the DRFN, with the Otjozondjupa Regional Council and NamPower, requested funding for a new, solar-diesel hybrid energy system in Tsumkwe.
"The idea came about as a result of the positive experiences at the Gobabeb Training and Research Center, which operates a 26-kilowatt-peak solar-diesel hybrid system in the Namib Desert," says the DRFN's Robert Schultz. A joint project of DRFN and Namibia's Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the Gobabeb Center has pioneered sustainable development and appropriate technology projects in Namibian settlements. The Tsumkwe project was approved for funding by the E.U. in 2008.
The new 100-to 150-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array will be installed in August 2010. Combined with battery storage capacity of 1500 to 2000 kilowatt hours and upgrades to the existing mini-grid, the new hybrid system will provide, for the first time, uninterrupted power for Tsumkwe's basic services, such as water pumping, street lighting, police, and medical care. The system will be at full power, supplying electricity to the community's 70 households and 15 businesses by November 2010.
The cost of the solar-diesel system, the largest hybrid-generating project in Southern Africa, will be about $4 million in U.S. dollars. Three-quarters is financed by the E.U., 14 percent by NamPower, and 11 percent by the Otjozondjupa Regional Council. If successful, the hybrid system will offer a model for small-scale renewable power generation throughout Namibia, where only 13 percent of communities are connected to NamPower, and elsewhere in Africa.
The full potential of the new hybrid system, however, will not be achieved with hybrid energy generation alone. "The project will also implement solar water heaters, gas cookers, and compact fluorescent lights," DRFN's Schultz adds, "so ensuring energy efficient behavior within the community," and adequate training for the Regional Council will be critical to its success.
One challenge is the system conversion of all institutions from credit meters to prepayment meters to minimize debt risk - a requirement imposed by E.U. funding, but that is contrary to local custom. "This is quite controversial," says Schultz, who notes that lack of community support could cause the project to fail, as a few appropriate technology projects have in the region. "The challenges are not the technology," says Robert Schultz, "but how the community can be encouraged and empowered through it."
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. government.
