The project, begun by the Polytechnic of Namibia (PoN) in 2009, aims to determine the amount of wind available for conversion into electricity.
Speaking at a ceremony after the agreement was signed, Dr. Gert Gunzel, vice rector of PoN, said the research is intended to gather foundation data for the country’s growing wind energy sector.
“The wind resource knowledge derived from this project will ensure investment decisions by wind energy developers are quick and less rigorous, while policy makers will be able to make informed decisions, knowing for example what kind of energy technology is to be deployed where,” Gunzel said.
A report in Informante, the national newspaper of Namibia, also quotes Gunzel as expressing frustration with Namibia’s current power woes.
“It is a puzzle to imagine that Namibia, with all its vast natural resources including wind solar and solid wood biomass, experiences power deficits,” he told the newspaper. “In order for the optimum and sustainable development of these resources there must be solid information that institutions such as the Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Institute at the Polytechnic must generate.”
Tim Ekandjo, chief corporate affairs officer for MTC said the company will supply and install measuring equipment on MTC masts is 16 out of a total of 18 potential measurement sites.
The company will also oversee data management and analysis and eventually develop a series of regional wind atlases. The results of the project are a set of wind resource data that will be presented in the form of regional wind atlases.
PoN’s contribution is largely coming from its previous project on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Capacity Building Programme funded by the Royal Danish Embassy in Pretoria.
The objective of the wind measurements is to provide data which will increase capacity at the local, regional and national levels to plan for renewable energy projects. The data will be used for large scale power development, off-grid/ mini- grid electrification, water pumping and climate change research, amongst other needs.
Farmers will use weather data while the scientific community will be keen on weather and climate data, for amongst other things, climate change mitigation and adaptation studies.
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