Xaris Energy and its partners welcome the Namibian High Court’s ruling to reaffirm the decision by NamPower to award Xaris Energy the tender to construct Walvis Bay Power Plant.

Arandis Power instituted a High Court application to challenge the decision to award the contract to Xaris Energy to develop a 25 0MW power plant. The Acting Judge, C. Parker dismissed Arandis Power application with costs.

Boni Paulino, Chairman of Xaris Energy says he agrees fully with the High Court’s sentiments expressed through the judgement that “the project is of crucial importance to the country and appealed to NamPower to perform its duty by doing all that would be required and necessary, to enable Xaris Energy to execute the project.”

“Xaris Energy will now actively pursue engagement with NamPower to finalise the Power Purchase Agreement,” says Hennie Steyn, Managing Director of Xaris Energy.

“We have maintained since the beginning that Xaris Energy put forward a very competitive bid, technically and commercially. We won the bid fairly and we put together a team of highly competent global partners with impeccable credentials,” continues Steyn.

The execution and advisory team on the project comprises a number of regional and global players such as Garanti Koza, Tuten KSE, GE Power and Water, Excelerate Energy, EON Consulting, MPR Associates, Webber Wentzel, Engling Stritter, Single Destination Engineering and PRDW and remain committed to successfully deliver the project in as short a period as possible.

 

State of electricity in Namibia

Namibia currently imports more than 70% of its power from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia, with key power import contracts in jeopardy and escalating power problems in the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).

South Africa’s load shedding appears to have been brought under control for the foreseeable future, but neighbouring Botswana, Zambia and Angola are continuously plagued by power shortage problems. Almost the entire Namibia was recently hit by power blackouts as a result of the reliance on power from South Africa.

 

The solution – Walvis Bay Power Plant

The solution for Namibia involves the development of a baseload power plant, like the Xaris Energy’s 250 MW power plant being developed in Walvis Bay. If built and managed responsibly, the Walvis Bay Power Plant can last up to half a century or more and will assist in ensuring security of power supply and reduce Namibia’s reliance on electricity imports.

The technology used for the the Walvis Bay Power Plant is based on GE LM6000 aero derivative technology, with a solid track record and high efficiency, with rapid start and stopping features, allowing the plant to adjust to the changing needs of the power system and act as a modular and flexible power source.

This will complement and support any future increased percentage of electricity produced from renewables, such as solar and wind, which place an escalating level of stress on aging power systems.

The varying output can cause voltage swings in transmission lines, potentially creating power surges and blackouts, which can be supported by the combination of this and the Walvis Bay Power Plant. This new plant will bring power stability to Namibia.

The plant will be fuelled by natural gas – the most environmentally friendly fossil fuel on earth.

The plant will be connected to the Namibian grid that links to the SAPP grid, so that any excess energy produced by the plant can be sold to neighbouring countries. A logistics solution for the distribution of natural gas can also be established over time.

Some of the secondary benefits of the plant include local employment and job creation, both during construction and operation phases and local employment and job creation through spin-off developments such as security, catering, transport, site management and cleaning services.

Skills development and training will support market growth, education enhancements through bursaries and new facilities, and quality of life improvement for veterans through medical care and social support.

 

Way forward

The Xaris and NamPower’s respective project teams will meet soon to finalise the outstanding negotiations and aim to conclude the outstanding items in the Power Purchase Agreement.

The efforts will be to ensure that all related agreements are finalised in August allowing the financing process to be concluded. Obviously Xaris will aim to start with early works as soon as possible.

The construction schedule will be reviewed and firmed up, based on the above. Xaris Energy remains committed to ensuring that Namibia receives power as soon as practically possible and will ensure that the power plant.