231221002638 - #Gaingu PV Power Plant and Associated Infrastructure

The project proposes the development of a photovoltaic solar installation with a cumulative capacity of 35.10 MWp to supply electricity to the proposed desalination plant near Wlotzkasbaken for the production of desalinated water (through reverse osmosis). The two demand centres (desalination plant and Pump Station 1 (PSS-1)) will be supplied by a combination of solar Photovoltaic (PV), Li-Ion Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and utility supplied power. Power will be wheeled using the national utilities ́ (NamPower ́s) network infrastructure to provide the supply at the lowest cost of energy. A solar PV and Li-ion BESS power plant will be constructed in the #Gaingu Conservancy (#Gaingu Power Plant) to wheel power to the desalination plant and PSS-1. A new 33 kV transmission line will be constructed to connect the solar PV plant to the existing New Khan substation. The routing of the transmission line will initially be to the south, before turning east, where it will run in parallel with the existing transmission line corridor of the New Khan – Trekkopje and Khan – Hentiesbay lines. The total length of the transmission line will be approximately 35 km. The existing NamPower transmission and distribution network will be used to wheel the electricity generated by the solar PV facility to the desalinisation plant. The main components of the #Gaingu Power Plant are: • Mono-crystalline bi-facial half-cell Passivated Emitter Rear Contact (PERC) with a nominal rate capacity of 530 Wp. • String inverters with a nominal output power of 195kW@45C. • Single-axis tracker module mounting structure. • Containerised NMC Lithium-Ion Battery Energy Storage solution. The #Gaingu Power Plant will be installed in incremental steps to increase the Renewable Energy (RE) power supply in line with the step increases of the expansion of the desalination plant. The total power demand for SS1 up to 2050 is 18.23 MW (ILF, 2021). The total maximum area for the Solar PV and BESS facilities is 141 ha.