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Politics : Rat's Nest - Chronicles of Collapse -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (4619)	8/23/2006 12:49:56 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24210

Namibia to boost solar, wind power by 0.5 pct/year Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:37 AM GMT FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Namibia aims to increase the amount of electricity produced from solar and wind sources by 0.5 percent a year, with solar energy taking a lead, an adviser at its Mines and Energy Ministry said on Tuesday. Solar and wind power account for only 1-2 percent of all electricity produced in the South African country of 1.8 million people. But the government is looking for ways to finance many new projects to boost the sector, said Shimweefeleni Hamutwe, the ministry's adviser on alternative energy. "At the present time we are still at the planning stage of getting frameworks for funding of renewable energy technologies," Hamutwe told Reuters on the sidelines of an international renewable energy congress in Florence. "Under current arrangements, one can see a continuous growth of about 0.5 percent per year," he said. He said the costs of securing such growth would run at about $5-10 million a year. The government would be the main source of funding, helped by international development partners. The government would also expect private sector investment and had received some proposals to set up joint ventures in renewable energy as electricity prices were set to rise, making the area more lucrative, Hamutwe said. He said solar energy, used to power and heat households and pump water, would be the main driver in the sector development. Namibia is a net importer of electricity and imports up to 90 percent of power in dry seasons, mostly from South Africa but also from Zambia and Zimbabwe. Namibia's total installed capacity is 300 megawatts, but only 50 percent of this is used during droughts -- a far cry from the country's needs for 480 MW of generating capacity, Hamutwe said. za.today.reuters.com