water energy food nexus - vo consulting - may '18 final · energy-water-food nexus 23 may 2018...

Konrad Adenauer Foundation Public Discussion Windhoek, Namibia

23 May 2018

All rights reserved: VO Consulting [email protected] 1

Konrad Adenauer Foundation

NamPower Convention Centre Dr Detlof von Oertzen

Windhoek, Namibia

23 May 2018

WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS

Namibian Interdependencies, Challenges and

Development Opportunities

Introduction & Teaser

What is a Nexus?

• a connection linking two/more important issues

or

• a focal point.

23 May 2018 Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Namibia 2

Energy

Water

Food

Source: VO Consulting


23 May 2018


Energy-Water-Food Nexus


Food

Water

Energy

Economy’s natural base



Our National Challenge - Water

• Namibia is a very dry country.

• Our climate is highly variable.

• Development cannot take place

without secure water provisions.

• All potable water is pumped.

• Namibia’s medium- to long-term

water future is at risk.

Water


23 May 2018



Our National Challenge - Energy

• Namibia is highly dependant on

energy imports.

• The country is well-endowed with

renewable resources.

• Namibia’s electricity future can be

placed on a firm footing.

• An underdelivering energy sector

risks water & food shortages.

Energy


Our National Challenge - Food

• We remain a net food importer.

• Namibia does not produce what

it consumes.

• Own supplies can address

poverty and drive development.

• Water & energy are key inputs,

and emphasise our vulnerability.

Food


23 May 2018



Interdependencies

• Water, energy & food are

linked across the economy.

• To keep the national cogs

turning necessitates

de-risking this nexus.

• Climate impacts the nexus,

with major repercussions for

our development prospects.Source: VO Consulting

Water


Challenges

• A changing climate accentuates

the interdependence of water,

energy, and food.

• Systemic challenges call for

whole-system approaches.

• Piece-meal methods and

particular interests/interference

further weaken the nexus.

• National resilience is improved

when ecosystem services remain

fully functional.



23 May 2018



Development Opportunities

Water Energy Food

• Create productive systems that are resilient

• Enhance diversity of supplies and localisation

• Focus on strengthening our adaptive capacities


Example: Development Corridors

Objectives:

1. create rainfall-independent local water supplies

2. increase local electricity supplies

3. strengthen local food production capabilities

4. benefit from international climate funding prospects.


23 May 2018



Development Corridors – The Idea

Using the Atlantic ocean’s unlimited water supplies,

and benefitting from Namibia’s vast renewable energy resources

and large under-developed tracts of land,

create infrastructure corridors in which

water, electricity, road and rail infrastructure is used

to create decentralised growth & industrialisation opportunities

that are largely climate-independent

while benefitting from international climate funding.


Coast-to-Capital Development Corridor



23 May 2018



Rationale: Coast-to-Capital Corridor

Insurance policy for Windhoek – the capital may not run dry

Climate-proof development – wait for rain, or start development?

Industrial development – water, energy & transport infrastructure

Decentralise development initiatives – Windhoek has limits

Mining-independent development – connecting Erongo to Khomas

New jobs necessitate new ventures – a pipeline alone does not do it

Decentralised industrial activities to be initiated along the corridor –

Focus on high-value agriculture, manufacturing, processing etc

Expensive? What is the price of water when rains have failed, again?


The Coast-to-Capital Corridor


Water source: Atlantic oceanProduction: desalinated sea water, approx. 25 million m3/aPiping: approx. 300 km, with 1 525 m static head Cost: desalination plant: approx. N$ 3.6 billion (2016)

pipeline & electricity: approx. N$ 2.7 billion (2016)Forex exposure: approx. 25% of total capital expenditure requirementsCost of water: desalination: approx. N$ 36/m3 plus piping N$ 26/m3

total delivery at Von Bach Dam: from N$ 62/m3Energy: desal: approx. 20 MW, pumping approx. 24 MW

desal: 140 million kWh/a; pumping 185 million kWh/aTimeline: EPC & commissioning: 4 years +


23 May 2018



Our water, energy & food sectors are extremely vulnerable, and at risk.

To future-proof Namibia, we must further secure our supplies.

Affordable & climate-resilient sources for water, energy & food are critical if

we want to meet the national development ambitions.

Our nearly unlimited water & renewable energy resources –

hold both competitive & comparative advantages.

Our development activities should lead to the climate-proofing of the

essential underpinnings of all economic activities, i.e.

Namibia’s water, energy and food nexus.

A Resilient Water-Energy-Food Nexus


Thank you!

Dr Detlof von Oertzen

[email protected]

www.voconsulting.net

[email protected] Page 1 of 1

INDUSTRIAL CORRIDORS

AS BACKBONE OF NAMIBIA’S DEVELOPMENT

A CONCEPT NOTE

Summary

Namibia in general, and Windhoek in particular, are water-constrained. Without water there is no –

and will not be – any significant development. It is therefore of strategic importance that viable long-

term alternatives are found to de-link Windhoek’s water requirements from rainfall and adverse

climatic conditions, while at the same time creating new options to stimulate and drive the country’s

long-term sustainable development.

Industrial corridors incentivise development through the systematic provision of water, electricity,

road and rail infrastructure, thereby creating decentralised growth and industrialisation areas. An

industrial corridor linking the coast to Windhoek would at the same time safeguard the capital’s water

supplies, and decouple it from rainfall variations.

In principle, several such industrial corridors could be created in Namibia. An industrial corridor linking

the coast to the capital would unlock the unlimited supplies of the Atlantic Ocean as a source of

potable water, by using seawater desalination powered in part by solar and other renewable energy

sources. Water generated in this way could be piped via Usakos, Karibib and Okahandja to the Von

Bach Dam, from where it would complement Windhoek’s supplies.

A desalination plant of a capacity of 25 million cubic meters per year would cost some N$ 3.6 billion in

2016, yielding water at approximately N$ 36/m³ by the time the plant is operational in 2019. Piping

desalinated water from the coast to the Von Bach Dam costs approx. N$ 2.75 billion, and adds some

N$ 26/m3 to its cost. At a total cost of N$ 62/m3 in 2019, such water is considerably more expensive

than NamWater’s current bulk water supplies. However, when rains have failed, again, and Windhoek

is about to run dry, such cost seems more acceptable than not having water at all.

While a Coast-to-Capital corridor would provide a form of water insurance for Windhoek, it could be

much more: by creating high-tech agricultural growth points along the water-power-transport

infrastructure, such a corridor would offer climate-independent jobs, and could provide for food and

high-value agricultural produce – irrespective of the whims of the weather, thereby feeding the nation

and earning revenues from high-value exports.

Namibia needs a development vision that is underpinned by its natural endowments. The provision of

water and energy remain central to all development efforts. Industrial corridors are a vision which

drives the country’s industrialisation, centred around the value addition of locally abundant resources.

The establishment of industrial corridors, starting with the Coast-to-Capital Corridor, would safeguard

Windhoek’s water supplies, while creating new economic stimuli for growth and development. In this

way, industrial corridors become platforms for decentralised economic development that benefit from

our clean, sustainable and locally abundant resources, and power our national development

ambitions. We have the tools to decouple our development from some of nature’s vagaries.

It is therefore time we asked whether we continue to wait for the rains, or start developing.

water energy food nexus - vo consulting - may '18 final · energy-water-food nexus 23 may 2018...

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