Maltahöhe to get solar park

The public has until tomorrow to submit input regarding a proposed 40 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic solar park to be built on 40 hectares at Maltahöhe in the Hardap Region. The project, led by Namibian solar energy company DanAon Energy, has applied for an environmental clearance certificate from the ministry of environment, forestry and tourism, regarding which input can be submitted to Enviro-Leap Consulting or on the ministry's website at eia.meft.gov.na/web/projects/4133 before 12:00 tomorrow.The Maltahohe village council wrote to DanAon Energy on 28 May to inform the company of the pre-approval for availability of the land for the solar park. In the letter, council acting CEO Gerson Tjitaura said provisional approval was granted at the council’s ordinary meeting on 10 May, and that the approval is valid for six months, provided work starts on construction of the facility before the provisional period expires. The company intends to install approximately 70 000 solar panels on the 40-hectare area to generate about 40MW of clean electricity, which will be fed into the national grid. Associated infrastructure to be constructed on site includes an administration block, storage and security rooms, as well as a transmission line to be able to connect to the national NamPower grid. 25-year lifespanOutput voltage from the on-site inverter will be 480 volts, and this will be fed into step up transformers to 132 kilovolts (kV). An on-site substation will be required to step the voltage up to 132kV, after which the power will be transmitted into the national grid, according to the environmental scoping and management report. The nearest NamPower substation is situated about 3.5 kilometres south of the proposed plant, which will be built north of the town, but within Maltahohe townlands, which is why a 132kV transmission line will be built from the existing grid to connect the substation to the site. A boundary fence system - designed to prevent the intrusion of outsiders and provide protection against theft and vandalism - will be installed around the premises. The site is directly accessible via the D861 road, which leaves the village towards the north-east. The new plant is envisioned to enjoy a 25-year lifespan.Maltahöhe is a village in southern central Namibia close to the Swartrand escarpment. It has about 6 000 people within its population and owns 17 000 hectares of land. Maltahöhe has been in steady decline for a number of decades. There is no retail store in town; the last one stopped business before 1980. Until after the year 2000, Maltahöhe used to have town status. Due to mismanagement and infighting between councillors, it was downgraded to a village. Since then, many businesspeople have left and unemployment has risen. There is no secondary school, only a primary school and the Daweb Junior Secondary School.Unemployment is high, with only about 500 residents in possession of some sort of job, according to the environmental investigations carried out.

Maltahöhe to get solar park

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-02

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Maltahöhe to get solar park

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-02

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