Arandis welcomes solar power plant Arandis Solar Energy announced its planned construction of a three-megawatt solar energy plant in the town last week. The plant will supply electricity to ErongoRED and was formed as a joint-venture between O&L Energy, Cronimet Mining Power Solutions and the Women of Destiny Trust. The solar plant is expected to be completed by and feed into the national grid by June 2017.
Welcoming the development, governor of the Erongo Region Cleophas Mutjavikua said, “This activity is evident of the possibilities in great partnerships. Innovation is key to the future of this country''s economy and breakthrough leadership is critical in driving this nation to greater heights and stronger economic growth - not only for the benefit of the country''s coffers, but also for that of each and every Namibian. This region and the country at large are hungry for more growth and development, and there is so much room for more.
Hence, initiatives such as the one we are launching today, are highly valued, welcomed and appreciated.” He urged Namibians to become less dependent on imports, and to produce everything we need at home. In his view, this would make a “huge difference to the future of the nation”. “The sooner we get to a place where we are no longer dependent on other suppliers beyond our borders, the faster we will be able to take complete control of where we are headed. This solar power plant is a big step in that direction. I look forward to even brighter days and a future embraced with even more innovations,” Mutjavikua added. O&L group executive chairman, Sven Thieme said: “We are relentless in our pursuit of creating a sustainable future for all. Our aim is to contribute to improving Namibia''s energy situation and to increase the supply of renewable energy generated locally, decreasing our dependency on electricity imports from neighbouring countries. We are thrilled to have found in Cronimet Mining Power Solutions, a Namibian partner that shares our vision and enables us to reach our goals by contributing their experience, technical expertise in photovoltaics, and their commercial competency when managing the development process.”
He also revealed that O&L Energy would construct the first biogas plant in Mariental. Mutjavikua congratulated the partners, O&L Energy, Cronimet Energy, and the Women of Destiny Trust for embarking on the initiative. “I believe this will add immensely and richly to the town of Arandis in particular, the Erongo Region, and the Namibian nation at large.
We look forward to even further growth and more innovations once the construction of this plant is completed and running. And I trust this will be the beginning of even greater things coming our way.”
STAFF REPORTER