Namibia: !kharoxas to Benefit From Solar Project
THE community of farm !Kharoxas recently became the beneficiary of a solar power plant that was set up by the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) in partnership with the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany.
The power plant is a living laboratory research centre and is part of the Sustainable Energies, Entrepreneurship and Development (Seed) project, which was commissioned at the TUM in March 2020.
The aim is to offer higher education at the intersection of sustainable energy and entrepreneurship.
According to James Katende, a professor at Nust, !Kharoxas was an ideal location because available funds could only cover a small plant.
"We chose a location with a few homes, but with the potential for agricultural and other entrepreneurial activities," Katende said last week at the commission of the power plant at !Kharoxas.
He said the aim of the laboratory is to exploit Namibia's abundant renewable energy resources, such as solar, wind and biomass.
"The living lab will be a bedrock for teaching and research on concepts of sustainable energy and entrepreneurship. Hence curricula and research theses incorporating the activities of the living lab are expected to happen as soon as possible," he added.
The Namibian was informed that constructng the power plant as well as replacing a borehole pump in the area cost about N$894 000.
The professor added that the power plant should help fast-forward growth in the community predicting that by 2024 there will be a complete socio-economic transformation at !Kharoxas.
"We had to provide energy to remote communities which have no access to the grid so that they can start entrepreneurial activities which will generate funds and therefore raise the standard of living in these communities," he noted.
!Kharoxas is a settlement about seven kilometers from Groot Aub and according to Katende, its residents showed a lot of enthusiasm and interest in the project.
The power plant, known as the NUST SEED Living Lab is a 20-killowat solar panel that was designed and specified by the NUST team and installed by Namibian Engineering Corporation.
Niko Bruckner, chief executive officer of the corporation gave a brief explanation of how the power plant will work.
"All the energy that is generated from the sun is converted into electricity that is stored in batteries and will be distributed to the communities once it has been connected," Bruckner explained.
He further told the community that while the solar plant is very expensive, it is a good investment as solar power is a sustainable energy source.
The solar panel has been built in such a way that the electronics and the battery can be extended as required in the future.
The project is being funded by the Germany Academic Exchange for five years from 2020 to 2024.
The TUM SEED coordinates eight partner universities from the Global South collaborating on sustainable energies and entrepreneurship skills development at postgraduate level. NUST is one of those universities engaged in the project.
Chief Juliane Gawa!nas of the /Khomanin Traditional Authority, who was present at the commission, extended her gratitude to NUST and TUM for choosing !Kharoxas as the ideal location for the project.
"We are so grateful for looking at us and setting up your project here. You should, however, also go to other communities in Namibia and look at them, and see where you can assist them as well," she said.
This article originally appeared on Namibian
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