Namibia: Mile 7 wind turbine running again

Africa's first network-connected wind-turbine generator, the Mile-7 generator at Walvis Bay, which was sabotaged last year, is up and running again, according to Erongo RED's CEO, Gerhard Coeln.

Coeln adds that a replacement part for the turbine's damaged controller had been installed last month. Coeln said the Police were still investigating the incident in which the control room was broken into and the expensive control equipment sabotaged, with some components allegedly being stolen.

The damage was estimated at about N$200 000. The 35-metre-tall Mile-7 generator was installed in 2005 with the help of the Danish government - at a cost of about N$2,2 million. According to Coeln, it was a successful experiment to study the potential of wind-farming in Namibia. He said the generator was the first, and probably still the only, wind-turbine generator connected to a national grid in Africa. The turbine currently generates 220kW of electricity, most of it being used to run the harbour town's Mile-7 water reservoir and pump stations.

Asked about the future of large-scale wind-farming in Namibia, Coeln said new ideas were always good - and especially so when one considers "green energy".