Solar for export
The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the first 19.3 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant dedicated exclusively to exporting renewable electricity generated from Namibian sunshine took place last Friday.
Located at Gerus, about 30 km from Otjiwarongo towards Outjo, the plant represents the single largest direct investment by a British company in the Namibian economy.
Solarcentury Africa and its local partners, Sino Energy, welcomed the chief executive officer of the Electricity Control Board (ECB), Robert Kahimise, to the event, along with six British Members of Parliament. These included Dame Harriett Baldwin, Sarah Coombes, Brian Mathew and Tom Rutland from the House of Commons, as well as Lord Jonathon Oates and Baroness Margaret Curran from the House of Lords. Also in attendance were Ferdinand Nghiyolwa of Sino Energy and Norbert Dörgeloh, chief executive officer of Alensy Energy, the engineering, procurement and construction contractor.
Ruan Hough, business project development manager, Jason De Carteret, chief executive officer of Solarcentury Africa, and Douglas Feely, Namibia country manager for the British investor, marked the milestone by officially opening the solar photovoltaic power plant, located a short distance from the NamPower Gerus substation.
The facility has been exporting solar power to the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) since December 2025. Built at a cost of US$20 million (approximately N$340 million) and employing more than 400 Namibians during construction, the plant has the potential to supply renewable electricity to Southern Africa for the next 30 years, according to Hough.
The entire development was fully equity-financed by Solarcentury.
According to De Carteret, the Gerus project is Namibia’s first merchant solar site and one of the first of its kind in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). “It has been funded and constructed solely for the merchant market, which means we do not have a dedicated off-taker,” he said.
He explained that power from the Gerus plant is currently traded on the SAPP day-ahead market. “The power pool has four markets. This is always our backstop, but we are free to negotiate directly with large off-takers such as mines or industrial users.”
De Carteret added that this approach differs significantly from traditional power procurement in Namibia, where long-term off-take agreements are usually secured before development and construction, often delaying generation by up to two years.
“We have completed the development and built the site first,” he said. “Now, when we engage potential off-takers, we can offer immediate supply. This represents a fundamental shift in how energy projects are developed and sold in Namibia.”
