Namibia's electricity regulator charts industry path

In Namibia, the Electricity Control Board (ECB) serves as the regulatory authority for the fast-changing electricity industry. At a recent international electricity distribution conference in Swakopmund, Lameka Amuanyena, the ECB's technical regulation manager, elaborated on new rules under development.

He said technical rules for electricity distribution are nearing completion, while work on the distribution grid code has commenced and the transmission grid code is awaiting promulgation.

Progress is being made on electricity supply infrastructure regulations, and network asset values are now stipulated in the Namibia Electricity Distribution Network Assets (Nedna) document.

Additionally, embedded generation standards have been finalised, and off-grid regulations are nearing completion, he said.

The connection code is under development to house all sections, including the newly established electric vehicle charging infrastructure framework, for which the next stakeholder engagement workshop is scheduled for May.

Additionally, transmission network connection guidelines, as well as after-diversity maximum demand limitations – issues frequently raised by developers – are receiving attention, he noted.

Health and safety assurances are currently delaying the implementation of wiring licencing regulations developed by the ECB, according to Amuanyena.

He informed officials and management attendees at the thirteenth annual Association of Electricity Distribution Undertakings general meeting in March that compliance audits are scheduled to commence from May this year.

Licence management records and infrastructure maintenance will be scrutinised, followed by tariff compliance audits and technical compliance audits leading up to the Token Identifier (TID) roll-over on 24 November.



Project urgency

The TID is a 24-bit field contained in standard transfer specification (STS)-compliance token for the electricity prepayment meter that identifies the date and time of the token generation.

The TID is used to determine if an STS token has already been used in a prepayment meter. After a certain period of time, the TID in the token will reset back to zero, hence the need for an upgrade.

The token, used for the sale and purchase of electricity in prepaid electricity meters, will cease to function on 24 November 2024, unless the meter is updated beforehand.

At the conference, Amuanyena said 31 electricity distributors operated 321 523 prepaid electricity meters nationwide, of which 147 511, or approximately 45%, had been updated or 'rolled over.'

Among the distributors, only Aranos, Koës and the Finkenstein Estate had updated all of their prepaid electricity meters. Mariental had reached 95%, while Keetmanshoop and Rehoboth had achieved 80% each.

Gobabis and Lüderitz had not updated any of their prepaid electricity meters. Cenored had updated 54%, Erongo RED 46%, Nored 39% and NamPower Distribution had upgraded 89% of their prepaid meters.

The ECB has called for all meters in Namibia to be updated by 31 July to allow a four-month buffer period for safety. Amuanyena lamented that most of the 31 licenced distributors had not provided the ECB with their specific plans for TID roll-over.

Tom Mutshidza, president of the Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities (AMEU) in South Africa, who was present at the conference, said they face the same challenges.

He warned municipalities and local authorities that income interruptions from unsupported electricity transactions can bring towns to their knees.