ERONGO RED

Envisaged as a dynamic and efficient commercialised electricity distributor for the Erongo Region, the Erongo Regional Electricity Distributor Company (Pty) Ltd, commonly known as Erongo RED, started trading on 1 July 2005, within the context of the Namibian Government’s National Development Plan.

Erongo RED was formed by merging the service of electricity distribution from the various municipalities and town councils in the Erongo region namely: the Municipality of Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Henties Bay and Omaruru; the Town Council of Karibib, Usakos and Arandis; Erongo Regional Council; and NamPower. All these individual institutions are shareholders of Erongo RED. The initiative to create REDs was part of the Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) and Electricity Distribution Industry (EDI) restructuring Policy to distribute and supply electricity through economies of scale, the pooling together of human and operational capital resources to ultimately stabilize electricity prices and ensure reasonable, affordable and cost effective tariffs to electricity consumers.

The company purchases electricity from NamPower for both urban and rural customers. The electricity is then transmitted and distributed to the various customer segments ranging from residential, business and industrial. Erongo RED uses about 15% of the total electricity requirement of Namibia. The electricity industry in Namibia is regulated by the Electricity Control Board of Namibia, thus Erongo RED operates under set regulations.

The core business of Erongo RED is to distribute and supply electricity within the vast region of Erongo. Erongo RED received a distribution and supply licence which is valid until 2030. The company also received a generation licence in 2006 for embedded power generation for a 220 kW wind generator near Walvis Bay, this being the first known network-connected wind generator in Namibia.