South Africa stands by energy pledge
Power supply agreements keep Namibia's lights on
South Africa's electricity minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has reassured Namibia of continued electricity supply.
South Africa’s electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says his country will continue providing electricity to Namibia despite load shedding in that country.
Ramokgopa made the comments following a visit to Namibia to discuss how the two countries can collaborate in the green hydrogen space.
"You have 100 megawatts (MW) confirmed, and we will continue to do that. We are confident – not only buoyant but bullish – in terms of addressing the issue. I don’t think you should be having sleepless nights," Ramokgopa said.
Eskom is continually improving its generation capacity at its power stations across South Africa, Ramokgopa added.
"We are continuing to improve the reliability and efficiency of the units. As I speak to you, we have moved from a historic low of 48% to 60%, and we continue to improve."
Namibian lights stay on
He added that South Africa is making "significant strides" to address its power shortages.
"The intensity of load shedding, which is really a technical instrument that we deploy when the demand far exceeds generation, and we use that to protect the grid, that intensity is beginning to lessen. Firstly, as a result of the improvements that we are making on the generation side, we are registering significant improvements in the performance of the units," Ramokgopa said.
Eskom is under pressure from the broader South African public, which is demanding it slash electricity supply to customers beyond its borders in order to take care of internal needs first.
As per agreements, NamPower imports 200 MW from Eskom and 100 MW from Zesco.
"NamPower and Eskom have a signed power supply agreement (PSA), based on the good bilateral relations between Namibia and South Africa. Due to regional cooperation established via the SAPP, the regional electricity players enter into PSAs, which may be extended," NamPower said.
"The bilateral agreement with Eskom has been in existence for decades. There are additional options to engage participants from amongst South African Power Pool members for bilateral agreements."
Ramokgopa made the comments following a visit to Namibia to discuss how the two countries can collaborate in the green hydrogen space.
"You have 100 megawatts (MW) confirmed, and we will continue to do that. We are confident – not only buoyant but bullish – in terms of addressing the issue. I don’t think you should be having sleepless nights," Ramokgopa said.
Eskom is continually improving its generation capacity at its power stations across South Africa, Ramokgopa added.
"We are continuing to improve the reliability and efficiency of the units. As I speak to you, we have moved from a historic low of 48% to 60%, and we continue to improve."
Namibian lights stay on
He added that South Africa is making "significant strides" to address its power shortages.
"The intensity of load shedding, which is really a technical instrument that we deploy when the demand far exceeds generation, and we use that to protect the grid, that intensity is beginning to lessen. Firstly, as a result of the improvements that we are making on the generation side, we are registering significant improvements in the performance of the units," Ramokgopa said.
Eskom is under pressure from the broader South African public, which is demanding it slash electricity supply to customers beyond its borders in order to take care of internal needs first.
As per agreements, NamPower imports 200 MW from Eskom and 100 MW from Zesco.
"NamPower and Eskom have a signed power supply agreement (PSA), based on the good bilateral relations between Namibia and South Africa. Due to regional cooperation established via the SAPP, the regional electricity players enter into PSAs, which may be extended," NamPower said.
"The bilateral agreement with Eskom has been in existence for decades. There are additional options to engage participants from amongst South African Power Pool members for bilateral agreements."
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