This is the first application of its kind for the Chinese solar energy specialist. JA Solar will supply half-cell modules with a total capacity of 6.5 MW for a solar power plant to be built in the Otjozondjupa region by Gildemeister Energy Solutions and SunEQ GmbH.
JA Solair announced that it will supply half-cell modules for a solar power plant in Otjozondjupa, a region in north-eastern Namibia. More precisely, it is about a total of 20 000 modules with crystalline silicon half-cell i.e. high performance (linked to the strong ultraviolet radiation in Namibia, editor’s note). “The half-cell modules we supply optimise interconnection technology, reduce resistance losses and increase current flow by widening cell gaps, resulting in increased output power at high temperatures,” confirmed JA Solar.
JA Solar, a Chinese company that supplies solar equipment worldwide, including through wholesale distributors, and employs 1,500 people, has confirmed that these modules will enable optimal operation of a solar power plant located in Otjozondjupa.
Otjozondjupa Solar Power Plant
The solar park that is being built in Otjozondjupa by Gildemeister Energy Solutions will have a generating capacity of 6.5 MW (14 GWh per year). This German SME, which employs 104 people, works in association with SunEQ GmbH, another German company specialised in solar energy production, based in Hamburg.
The Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) enabled SunEQ to obtain financing for the solar-power plant. Namibia Infrastructure Finance Ltd (NIFCO), an infrastructure investment company created and managed by IJG Capital Ltd. and Old Mutual Investment Group Ltd., holds a 60% stake in the solar project, while Hungileni Investment Partner Empowerment (a company majority owned by once disadvantaged women) controls 30%. This leaves 10% for SunEQ and its partner in the project.
The energy produced by this plant will not be added to the national grid in Namibia. It will be used exclusively to supply Ohorongo Cement, the largest cement plant in Namibia (100% owned by the German group Schwenk Zement KG), with an annual production of one million tons (2015 figure).
Jean Marie Takouleu
