South Africa's Minister of Electricity has pledged his country's commitment to continue supplying electricity to Namibia.
Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa made this commitment during a media briefing in Windhoek.
Namibia generates about 40% of its energy needs domestically, while the remaining 60% is imported from neighbouring countries via the Southern African Power Pool. Out of this, 100 megawatts are sourced from South Africa.
However, South Africa has been grappling with energy shortages and consequent load shedding for a considerable period of time.
But Dr. Ramokgopa has affirmed that this situation does not affect the energy supply they provide to Namibia.
"We will continue to give you the 100 megawatts, I don't think that is at risk, and we will continue to see this kind of improvement, so we are confident about our prospects in addressing this. I see no reason why you should have sleepless nights about the 100 megawatts we are giving you."
He also noted that South Africa has made great strides in addressing the issue of energy generation in the country.
"The intensity of loadshedding is coming down. We continue to improve the reliability and efficiency of the units, we moved from a low of 48% to now being above 60%, and we continue to improve. There are projections that going into December we are going to make significant strides in the number of units, including other strides in other areas at 15%, so there is opportunity for us to improve, and the power stage can give us an additional 1000 megawatts. Plus other megawatts, so we will be about 3000 megawatts."
The two ministers also discussed the Kudu gas-to-power project and green hydrogen.
"The Minister of Mines and Energy, Tom Alweendo, said,"The discussions were around how SA can be part of the Kudu gas-to-power development so that we both benefit from this gas-to-power development. We also reflected on the fact that we both have a green hydrogen strategy, and therefore, if we make sure that we collaborate our efforts so that we do not become competitors rather than collaborators in the effort of green hydrogen."
The visit by the South African Minister is aimed at strengthening bilateral relations in the areas of energy affairs.