NamPower Managing Director Paulinus Shilamba told journalists on Tuesday that the agreement guaranteed the availability of power when the supplier, Eskom, had sufficient capacity and also made provisions for both normal and abnormal supply scenarios.
“The region has entered into an abnormal supply scenario and the agreement makes provision for the framework in which the contracting parties have to manage any eventuality including an abnormal situation like this,” said Shilamba.
He added, “Eskom’s reduction of exports to neighbouring countries including Namibia does not constitute a breach of the agreement.”
Namibia, which requires about 400 megawatts of electricity during peak hours, imports 45 percent of its energy requirements from South Africa’s Eskom.
Shilamba, who described Eskom as an indispensable regional power supplier, said NamPower was introducing voluntary and forced load shedding, time of use tariff and general load shifting, in efforts to reduce electricity usage by about 20 percent in the face of reduced supplies from Eskom.
He said NamPower had long anticipated the reduction of supplies from South Africa and hence it had signed other power purchase agreements with other countries including one controversially signed with Zimbabwe that has generated a tidal wave of negative publicity.