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Namibia lacks energy sources and may be heading towards an
energy crisis. South Africa provides 70 percent of Namibia’s energy needs
but in 2004 announced that it could no longer guarantee its neighbor a steady
supply, threatening an energy crisis and undermining Namibia’s hopes
of economic growth from its healthy tourism, fishing, and diamond industries.
Namibia relies on a hydro power plant on the Kunene River in the north, and
on a coal burning power plant in the capitol Windhoek for the remainder of
its energy needs. Power outages are common, and coal is increasingly expensive.
The country’s relatively small population is spread out over a vast area
making it difficult to ensure that everyone has access to electricity. But
one resource that Namibia has in abundance is sunshine. Solar power generation
is bringing three kinds of benefits to Namibia—protecting the environment,
improving the lives of the poorest the citizens, and helping the country avoid
a looming energy crisis. The GEF and UNDP are helping to increase the use of
solar energy.
A UNDP-GEF project, which provides technical expertise and finance for the
installation of solar panels, is now featured in a short video. It shows
the village of Ovitoto where every house and selected public buildings,
such as
schools and health centers, now have solar paneling, providing energy for
lighting and small appliances and ending the villagers’ dependence on the unreliable,
expensive electricity produced by Namibia’s two power plants.
The project's long-term objective is to increase the number of solar installations
running lighting, water heaters, small appliances and refrigerators in
Namibia from around 7,500 units in 2000 to 41,915 in 2016, which will
result in a
reduction in CO2 emissions of more than 692,000 tons over 15 years. Good
progress is
being made towards this objective: in 2005, the project reformed its
Solar Revolving Fund, which resulted in an immediate increase in the number
of
solar power generation systems being sold.
The video documents the GEF project’s success in taking solar technology
into the remotest of areas, by securing finance for the purchase of home solar
systems and training technicians in their installation. To promote the technology
to a generation of students, GEF has funded a solar caravan, set up as a teaching
center to demonstrate the viability of alternative power from non-polluting
solar and wind resources.
While emphasizing the project’s priority of greenhouse gas reduction,
the video also highlights the social and economic benefits of solar technology
brought to Namibia’s thinly distributed population.
The video which has aired on CNN, can be viewed at http://www.undp.org/video.
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