Electrifying Namibia

Over half of Namibia's 2.4 million people do not have access to electricity. In urban areas, 83% of the population has electrical access, but in the rural areas that encompass most of the state, just 21% live with electricity.

This means that 1.2 million people in Namibia are living without lighting, without refrigeration, without running water, without any of the amenities that allow us to easily access education, health, prosperity, and fun. This is a problem that the Namibian government is well aware of and invested in changing given that half their population's strong economic contributing potential is severely limited by energy poverty. However, Namibia faces an interesting challenge in electrification: a sparse population distributed over a wide spread of challenging terrain, making the expansion of traditional grids an inefficient option. It is further complicated by the fact that Namibia already imports 60% of its energy, generating very little of its own in-country.

This is both a challenge and an opportunity to explore renewables using the abundant local resources of water, wind, and sun. Namibia's Energy Institute is currently working on a plan to implement renewables in micro-grids around the nation, and it will be really interesting to observe their progress or lack thereof as we travel.

- Madelyn

Sources:
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS?locations=NA
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/wa.html
https://www.newera.com.na/2017/04/28/rural-households-have-limited-access-to-electricity/
http://suedafrika.ahk.de/fileadmin/ahk_suedafrika/Competence_Centres/German_renewable_energy_delegation_to_Namibia_2016/3_Off_Grid__Development_and_Challenges_in_Namibia_Namibia_Energy_Institute.pdf