Erongo 250mW power plant on final tender
The development of a 230 to 250mW medium to long-term generation facility worth N$3 billion at the coast in the Erongo Region will enter its procurement process with a tender closing this Friday 12 September for the top six bidders after which evaluation will start.
The tender closing follows a compulsory bidders conference which was held in July with the main aim of engagement between the bidders and NamPower.
National power utility, NamPower, told the Economist this week “it is envisaged that the evaluation process will take about three weeks after which a recommendation of preferred bidder and reserve bidder will be submitted to NamPower’s Special Advisory Tender Committee.”
The six bidders involved in this tender include Aggreko International Projects (South Africa), Sinohydro Corporation (China), Arandis Power (Namibia), PPN Power Generation Company (India), Sum International Consulting (United Kingdom) and Xaris Energy (Namibia).
The race for the right to develop this facility serves to bridge the medium to long-term power supply gap and ensure security of electricity supply for the next five years.
The development of a small-scale power plant at Walvis Bay is seen as part of a broader strategy to alleviate the country’s immediate power woes and is developed only as a relief mechanism and not as a long-term solution.
Meanwhile in other related issues pertaining to power, the recent river flow charts for the Kunene River shows a steady deterioration in water flow.
A slight increase was noted a week ago of which Nampower said “The increase in river flow can be attributed to power generation at Gove and Matala Power Stations in Angola respectively.” The flow in the Kunene recently improved to 120 cubic metre per second but this week is was down again to a dismal 81m3 per second.
“The Matala Dam was undergoing renovation and upgrades so the increase in river flow could be as a result of testing and commissioning of new gates,” Nampower said.
According to NamPower, the river flow has been above normal flow levels until the recent drop-off meaning that the power station has been able to generate more electricity during this period of July and August. “The river flow has been more stable this year as compared to previous years whichindicated some degree of river flow regulation at Gove and Matala Dams,” NamPower added.
