Capital speeds up electricity access
As many as 52 000 Windhoek homes without power
A boost for connecting settlements to the grid.
“Imagine the impact,” said Mayor Ndeshihafela Larandja, at Friday’s commissioning of power supply to block erven 2347, 2340, 2339 and 3222 in Okatunda in the Tobias Hainyeko constituency.The City of Windhoek’s drive towards universal access to electricity is kicking into gear this financial year. Larandja attributes progress to collaboration with the Khomas Regional Council and the government.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industrial Development, Mines and Energy Natangue Ithete agrees: “This commissioning event is a good example of teamwork,” he says. Since last year, about 814 households in Windhoek’s informal settlements have been connected, and 662 of them have already been switched on. In Okatunda, 68 out of 96 houses have already been connected, he added.
O’Brien Hekandjo, head of the municipality’s electricity department, said: “This will boost the formalisation of informal settlements.”
He pointed out that the 2023 national survey indicated that there are 144 000 homes in Windhoek, of which about 64% are connected to electricity, including in informal settlements. This leaves more than 52 000 homes without electricity. At 4%, this number will grow by another 2 000 homes annually. Income from these leases could raise up to N$70 million, which could be invested in sewerage, water and road infrastructure, according to Hekandjo.
So far, about 4 000 homes have been connected to the Windhoek power grid, in the Moses Garoëb, Khomasdal, Tobias Hainyeko and Samora Machel constituencies. In addition, five more high mast lights are being installed, bringing the total in Windhoek’s settlements to 18. Hekandjo plans ten more high mast lights for the capital by the end of the year.
In addition, N$235 million in funding has been secured for a second substation, additional to the one at Van Eck, and N$4 million has been secured for a municipal solar power centre, he said. The centre will encourage residents to join the 930 homeowners who already have solar power (a total of 42MW) on their roofs, he said.
The capital has also completed several realignment projects at Clanwilliam, and at Lafrenz, and has completed one distribution centre, and has had bulk supply installed to the army headquarters and the central hospital.
Progress is being made despite serious staffing shortages, with only 140 posts of 230 filled.
Hekandjo called for a special operation with temporary staffing to deal with the backlog. “Operational foot soldiers on the ground,” he described ideal candidates.
Among other things, the revitalisation of the inner city is planned through the restoration of lighting, along with the replacement of old electricity meters, and the construction of large-scale solar power generation up to 186 Giga Watt-hours capacity.
The capital also plans to outsource the power outage management, for an SMS system that will inform residents of the reasons for outages, and expected times when power supply will be restored.
Hekandjo emphasised that power in Windhoek is not expensive, at N$2.44 per unit, compared to Erongo RED’s price of N$2.73, Cenored’s N$2.53 per unit, OP Oshakati which charges N$2.63, and even Cape Town where power costs N$3.90 per unit.
After the presentation, Windhoek Municipality CEO Moses Matyayi said that people are complaining about municipal power prices: “You say we charge a lot, but compared to whom? Even with the advantages of scale and economies of scale, we still do better,” he said.