Arandis Solar Energy, a Namibian independent power producer, has secured land for its solar project following the successful conclusion of a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Erongo Red, ESI Africa reported.
The company signed a lease agreement for 12.5-hectares of land for 25 years with Arandis town council to commence construction of the 3.4MW solar-powered plant in November. The project will cost around $250,000, according to All Africa.
During the signing ceremony of the PPA in September, Erongo Red’s CEO, Robert Kahimise, stated that the power plant will save the regional electricity distributor close to $446,232 annually and an estimated total of $9.4m. The power plant will be connected to and synchronized with Erongo Red’s transmission station. It is expected to generate over 8.3 million KW hours of emission-free electricity per year.
Namibia follows other countries in Africa that are turning to cleaner sources of energy instead of relying on fossil fuels for power generation. Egypt Oil&Gas reported that Kenya’s largest solar power plant was set to add 55MW of power to the country’s national grid. The solar farm would sit on 85-hectare parcel of land, 20km away from Garissa town in northern Kenya. It would have 200,200 solar panels and is expected to be the largest in East and Central Africa.
