Resident of close to 485 homesteads at Sikondo village in the Kavango West region will soon do away with candles for lighting and firewood for cooking after the village is electrified. Over the past six years, and with the assistance of Gondwana Collection and the Kavango West Regional Council, the community raised N$ 400 000 towards the electrification of their village that has been without electricity for decades. An engineer for the northern Namibia’s regional Electricity Distributor (Nored), Petrus Mafungwe, said during the signing of the agreement with the contractor on Tuesday that at least N$3 million is needed to power the village. He explained that the electrification project is funded by the Ministry of Industrialisation, Mines and Energy, while Nored is responsible for design, contract administration and supervision of the contractor. Mafungwe said that the ministry, under its rural electrification division, has availed N$2.7 million towards the electrification project that will see the setup of three transformers and power lines which will take three months to complete. Councillor Johannes Karondo of the Kapako constituency where Sikondo village is located, said his constituency has the highest population in the region and many more villages need to be electrified. Local resident Gabriel Tomea expressed gratitude to the government, saying electricity will give them access to light and other resources. The post 485 Sikondo homesteads to be electrified appeared first on The Namibian.

NC members advocate for faster rural electrification NBC Online Fri, 05/23/2025 - 15:15

The World Bank is supporting the expansion of energy access through initiatives like the Tanzania Rural Electrification Expansion Program.

Over 1 500 households were electrified between 2020 and 2025 at a cost of N$55.6 million, while an additional 1 956 peri-urban households were connected to power during the 2024/25 financial year through a N$75.5 million investment. During the 2023/24 financial year, 678 households were electrified at a cost of N$ 19.8 million. The deputy prime minister and minister of industrialisation, mines and energy, Natangwe Ithete, reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to rural electrification and the development of strategic plans that support Namibia’s national goals during the opening of the ministry’s strategic planning retreat at Swakopmund on Monday. “Through our rural electrification programme, schools, public institutions and households have also benefitted. A total of 326 public institutions and 1 074 households were electrified at a combined cost of N$308.5 million during the 2020-2025 period,” he noted. Ithete further highlighted the Baynes Hydro-Power Project as a cornerstone of Namibia’s future energy security. Developed in collaboration with the Angolan government in 2024, the project is being presented as a milestone in regional cooperation. The power station is a planned 600-megawatt hydroelectric power plant in northwest Namibia, at the border with Angola. The minister emphasised the importance of national empowerment, adding that all 12 mining licences issued over the past three years included conditions ensuring local participation. “This is aligned with our vision to increase Namibian ownership in mining. Local content development in oil, gas and green industries is vital to our country’s socio-economic development,” he stressed. According to the minister, royalty collections from the mining sector reached N$5.96 billion during the same period. He attributed this success to rigorous site inspections, permit verifications and audits. Mining ministry executive director Ben Nangombe echoed the minister’s sentiments, urging staff members to remain focused and proactive in delivering a comprehensive and responsive strategic plan. He acknowledged a series of challenges, including inequities in access to resources, inefficient project management and slow internal processes. However, he expressed confidence in the team’s ability to respond effectively. * Nampa The post Ithete commits to rural electrification appeared first on The Namibian.

US Agriculture Dept. expects to announce more awards in the coming weeks and has picked six other cooperatives in Colorado, Louisiana, Oregon and Washington-Idaho.

In Madagascar, GRET launched a solar electrification project involving the population directly in the management of the new energy services

YouTube video by EKOenergy ecolabel

Thipanana Villagers protest rural electrification project diversion NBC Online Sat, 08/09/2025 - 21:09

SMRs are groundbreaking; their low cost and flexibility have revolutionized nuclear energy. This technology can uplift the energy sector