The Kudu Power Project is an initiative to boost Namibia’s power production. The project’s primary components are expanding the Kudu gas field and constructing an 800 MW combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant at Oranjemund. The power plant will provide electricity to South African and Namibian power grids when finished. NamPower, the national energy company of Namibia, will develop the project.
Approximately 400 MW of the total 800 MW capacity is planned for use in Namibia. This sum would significantly increase the nation’s capacity for power supply, which is 500MW and primarily reliant on the Ruacana Power Station.
Reported earlier
Sep 2014
Namibia to construct US$ 1.2bn gas-fired power plant
The Namibian Government has chosen Shanghai Electric from China as the preferred company to build a new USD $1.2bn gas-fired power plant in the country.
Upon completion of the power plant, it is expected that there will be a production capacity of up to 1050MW and it will be connected to the South African and Namibian electricity grid for use in the region and locally.
The project which is in Kudu, South Western Namibia will pump gas from the Kudu field a distance of 170km offshore. The new gas-fired power plant is a combined cycle type.
According to the MD of NamPower in Namibia Paulinus Shalimba, turbines and generators for the project will be supplied by the German Company Siemens AG.
The company had also reserved places for Posco Energy and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Sumitomo, just in case negotiations with Shanghai Electric, in relation to the new gas-fired power plant, failed.
Read Also: Botswana’s Lesedi Power Project update
Being one of the world’s top producers of Uranium, the Namibian government has been working on different projects to help boost the supply of electricity in the country. The current supply capacity of electricity is 507MW, yet the demand is 534MW. By 2018, demand in the country is expected to go up by 800MW.
Nov 2014
Tullow withdraws from Namibia Kudu gas power project
Tullow has withdrawn from its full participation in the much-eyed Kudu gas-to-power project which is under development in Namibia. According to Namibia’s Mines and Energy Minister Isak Katali, the government has been informed by Nampa of the UK-based company’s withdrawal from the project due to financial problems.
Located 130 kilometers offshore of Namibia’s southwest coast, the Kudu gas-to-power project is co-owned by the government and Tullow and Itochu who both jointly owned 46% of the shares. Itochu is a Japanese company.
According to Katali, there is a likelihood that Itochu will follow suit as they co-owned the same share. However, the Namibian government through Katali has indicated that the project could continue as a joint venture with private investors since they have already approached the China-Africa Development (CAD) Fund and its potential partner, CNOOC to take up a 46% shareholding.
Further exploration of additional gas and potential oil resources could also be undertaken in the license area, although the government was focusing on defining the Kudu gas field development at the moment.
“We met the two companies and they are eager to take up the shares in the development of the Kudu gas-to-power project,” said Katali.
CAD Fund president Liu Hao has also shown their interest in participating in the large gas project.
“Give us more time, and give us more information on our questions we will forward to you as soon as possible. There is no doubt that together we can develop Kudu gas,” said Liu.
Kudu power station is expected to come online in 2018. Earlier this year, there were reports that the capacity of electricity generation in Namibia is 507MW, yet the demand is 534MW and is expected to go up by 800MW by 2018.
Nov 2015
Fate of Kudu Power construction Project in Namibia to be known 2016
The fate of the Kudu Power construction Project in Namibia will be known in mid-2016, Managing Director of National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor), Immanuel Mulunga has announced.
Since the stalling of the project, the cost has doubled up to about US $2.3bn and it will entail the transfer of gas from the offshore Kudu field to a floating production system. This will then be piped 170km to a planned 885MW power plant located in Oranjemund along the coast.
According to Mulunga, the project was at a critical stage and an investment decision has to be met before the close of June 2016. Namcor has 44 percent in the Kudu Power construction Project in Namibia. The Namibian government says it is committed to helping in the funding of associated development costs.
Mulunga also noted that they have selected a preferred technical operator to take up the 31 percent equity stake and they were still doing negotiations with the operator. He further noted that they were also in talks with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a private arm of the World Bank for the possibility of the corporation taking an equity stake in the project with the first power expected in 2019.
Mulunga also indicated that the partners of the project and Kudu Power were currently working on a sales agreement. Talks with preferred contractors for the subsea pipelines and floating production system were expected to be concluded early in 2016.
Upon completion of the power plant, Namibia will get 400 MW of power, and up to 300MW of the power surplus will be purchased by South Africa’s state-owned utility Eskom. Zambia’s Copperbelt Energy Corporation has also agreed to buy up to 300 MW of electricity to supply its key mining sector.
