Biomass gets the nod

NamPower is implementing a wood-fired power plant which is envisaged to be fully operational by 2020. Power will be generated using invader bush and wood chips and represents a real opportunity for farmers.Danish consulting firm Cowi was recently appointed to do an initial assessment of the envisaged power project by NamPower. Commenting on the development, NamPower managing director, Kahenge Haulofu said: “NamPower undertook a feasibility study to establish the feasibility to use harvested and processed woodchips in steam generation for electricity. COWI was appointed as techno economic advisor to NamPower's biomass to electricity project.Cowi is also studying the viability of various biomass plant sizes, ranging from 10 megawatt to 100 megawatt, while at the same time studying suitable terrains from which to extract the invader bush. Five potential sites have been identified at this stage. Representing the Namibia Agricultural Union, Danie van Vuuren indicated that commercial farmers were willing to support the initiative by harvesting invader bush and selling it on a large scale. He however stated that the farmers would only participate if harvesting invader bush would be economically viable for the farmers to do so. In 2012, NamPower completed a pre-feasibility study on biomass energy production. “NamPower will need to offer power purchase agreements at rates well above 80 cents per kilowatt hour to incentivise independent power producers to enter the market, or the government will need to establish incentives for land clearing, or some combination of both,” the report noted at the time. Biomass was identified as a possible fuel replacement at the 120-megawatt Van Eck power station in Windhoek.“There is also potential to use biomass as a replacement for coal at the existing Van Eck power station, particularly when biomass is pre-treated via a torrefaction process in order to transform it into a material with similar characteristics to coal. There may be good opportunities for using torrefied material at Van Eck but we do not consider an investment in a production system to be appropriate given the lack of commercial experience internationally,” the report said.OGONE TLHAGE

Biomass gets the nod

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-02

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Biomass gets the nod

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-02

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