Staff Writer
Namibian energy company OL Energy is targeting a gigawatt-scale renewable energy project by 2029, building on its approximately 50MW Schönau Solar Project near Karasburg as it seeks to scale up its contribution to the country’s energy sector.
The company’s managing director, Ute Redecker, said the planned expansion reflected a broader ambition to position Namibia as a competitive renewable energy producer and, ultimately, an electricity exporter to the Southern African region.
The Schönau project combines about 50MW of solar generation with a large battery storage component and is designed to export electricity to the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), according to Redecker.
She described the project as a significant step up in the complexity and scale of OL Energy’s renewable energy investments, while indicating that the company intends to pursue substantially larger developments.
“Our stated goal is to deliver a gigawatt-scale renewable project by 2029,” Redecker said.
The company is also targeting two to three biomass boiler projects for industrial customers requiring reliable heat, in addition to electricity.
Redecker said Namibia’s extensive solar and wind resources, combined with its relatively large land area and Atlantic coastline, give the country the physical capacity to develop large-scale renewable energy projects.
She argued, however, that resources alone would not be sufficient to transform Namibia into a regional energy hub.
“What I have learned, having delivered large-scale infrastructure projects across multiple continents for more than 30 years, is that the countries that win are not the ones with the most resources.
Countries that win are the ones that move first and move with discipline,” she said.
OL Energy, which is 100% Namibian-owned and backed by the Ohlthaver & List Group, has been involved in Namibia’s energy sector for about a decade.
Redecker said the company’s track record included delivering one of Namibia’s early Independent Power Producer projects, converting Namibia Breweries from imported fuel to biomass, and expanding on-grid and off-grid energy solutions for tourism and industrial customers.
As it moves towards larger projects, OL Energy is expanding its technical and business development capacity. Redecker said the company had already tripled its engineering capacity, with a technical manager expected to join in September.
The company is also building dedicated business development capacity to identify and pursue new energy opportunities.
Redecker said Namibia should aim to become one of the most competitive electricity markets in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), arguing that low-cost renewable power could help attract energy-intensive industries and support the development of new economic activities.
She said reliable and affordable electricity was a critical consideration for foreign investors, alongside infrastructure, regulatory certainty and the ease of doing business.
“Growth in an economy cannot happen without a growing energy sector,” Redecker said.
She also identified the development of Namibia’s electricity grid and the regulatory framework governing private-sector participation as important factors in determining how quickly the country can expand its energy industry.
According to Redecker, Namibia’s longer-term potential extends beyond domestic electricity generation to electricity exports and the development of green data infrastructure.
She warned that failure to accelerate investment in energy infrastructure could make it harder for Namibia to compete with neighbouring countries for foreign investment.
The government has set a target of creating 500 000 jobs over five years. Redecker said achieving that target would require a significant change in the pace of economic development.
“Business as usual will not get us there,” she said.
For OL Energy, the strategy is to scale up from projects such as Schönau while developing the technical capacity and partnerships required to execute larger renewable energy investments.
“The resources have always been here,” Redecker said. “The only question left is how fast we choose to move.”
