The future of Namibia’s 41-year-old gas dream hangs in the balance after the finance minister announced last week that the project will empty state coffers.
The Kudu Gas Project, expected to produce about 800MW upon its commissioning end of 2017, was going to be the only Combined Cycle Gas Turbine plant in the region.
In March this year, the project was costed at 14,4 billion Namibian dollars (about 1.2 billion U.S. dollars at the time), but this has since gone up to about 35 billion Namibian dollars (2.5 billion U.S. dollars).
Plans were that a gas power station would be built near the gas fields at the southern town of Oranjemund about 800 kilometers from the capital Windhoek.
Construction was expected to start in the first quarter of 2015, while the implementation and commissioning had been scheduled for the end of 2017 or the first quarter of 2018 latest.
But finance minister Calle Schlettwein’s admission to the media that the Kudu Gas Project could suck state coffers dry puts the dream into another deep slumber.
On his change of heart, Schlettwein said he had to assess the country’s finances and the risks the Kudu Gas Project will have on the economy.
“I have a worry that the Kudu Gas Project will use up the total fiscal space Namibia has and the country will not have the ability to raise any more funds for other projects,” Schlettwein said. Enditem.
Source: Xinhua
