As studies have been underway to determine Namibia’s wind power potential, the southern African country is inching closer to its first wind power project. An agreement has been signed by Sojitz Corp., United Africa Group (Pty) Ltd. (UAG) – a Namibian company based in Windhoek, and Seoul-based Korea Midland Power Co. Ltd. (KOMIPO), to cooperate in the implementation of Namibia’s first wind power project.
The $150 million wind farm will be constructed in Luderitz, located in southwest Namibia, and will have a generating capacity of 44 MW. A detailed wind assessment will be performed in the construction area and a long-term power supply agreement will be signed with the Namibia national power company in H1 2011 with operations expected to commence in 2013. A second phase will be added to increase the generating capacity to 90 MW at a later date.
UAG is involved in a wide range of business areas in Namibia, from development of resources such as uranium and natural gas to real estate and hotel operation. They entered the wind power business in 2007. Sojitz will use UAG’s expertise and networks to enter new business fields including electric power generation and infrastructure development. Sojitz also formed a strategic alliance with KOMIPO for development of an electric power business in Africa and is involved in other projects outside of Namibia as well.
Sojitz has future plans to partake in other large-scale projects such as IPPs and power plant construction throughout Africa and Namibia is a great start. In mid-October, Alternative Energy Africa announced that Mobile Telecommunications firm MTC was providing assistance to Namibia’s National Wind Resource Assessment Project that began in 2009 by Polytechnic of Namibia (PoN) in order to assess the country’s wind power potential. Prior to that announcement, South African native Professor Mike Slattery, director of the Institute for Environmental Studies and Chair of the Department of Environmental Science at Texas Christian University, told Alternative Energy Africa that Namibia was a strong contender for wind power (Lesser Known Wind Prospects in Africa).
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