Namibia has far bigger offshore gas reserves than anticipated, which will also be significant regarding future electricity exports to neighbouring countries.
An official of the mines and energy ministry revealed this at the national oil and gas conference held on 16 and 17 August 2023 in Windhoek.
“The gas deposits some 130 km off Namibia's coast are ten times bigger than the previously estimated 1.3 trillion cubic feet (tcf)”, the petroleum commissioner Maggy Shino, in the Ministry of Mines and Energy, said.
"Kudu gas reserves are estimated at 10 tcf, as international oil companies like Shell and Total Energies have also found gas where they discovered offshore oil," Shino said. According to confirmed estimates, Namibia has some 11-million-barrel offshore oil reserves.
“These new gas findings changed the entire assessment for the Kudu gas project and increases the energy potential in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region.” Namibia is one of the 16 SADC member states.
A planned pipeline of 170 km will bring the gas to the shore. A gas power plant will be constructed some 25 km north of Oranjemund.
During the ordinary annual SADC summit in Luanda, Angola on 17 August, the heads of government decided to develop a regional gas master plan for the next 15 years. It will indicate which member states have developed and not yet developed gas reserves and how best to use them for electricity generation to supply the region.
South Africa's newly appointed Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa indicated that South Africa would be interested to offtake electricity from Namibia's envisaged gas power station. Ramokgopa was in Windhoek for a one-day working visit on 18 August.
Brigitte Weidlich
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