Solar PV water pumping study - FINAL REPORT ... - UNDP, Namibia

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Feasibility Assessment for the Replacement of Diesel Pumps with Solar Pumps 1. Presentations FINAL REPORT: September 2006 The workshop was opened by Mr Hamutwe, who provided the background to the NAMREP programme and referred to one of the barriers, “Public awareness and social acceptability”, with regards to the PVP study stating that this study means to shed light where there is a lack of factual information preventing general acceptance and usage of this particular RET. The workshop was facilitated by Mr Martin Heita. Mr Heita gave a perspective on some international developments in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector stating that the time has come globally and locally to take renewable energy into serious consideration. Mr Axel Scholle presented the findings of the Feasibility assessment for the replacement of diesel water pumps with solar water pumps. 2. Discussion The workshop was conducted interactively and participants made comments and raised questions during the presentation. These comments and queries are documented here: • The Grundfos SQ Flex range has been extended to 1,400Wpeak and 200m head. • The combination (hybrid) of wind/diesel administered by DRWS is mostly used in Karas and Hardap. Why is DRWS phasing out hybrid pump systems? o The delegates from DRWS were not completely certain but offered the explanation that the hybrid systems are more complex and costly to maintain (two technologies) and are therefore being converted to either the one or the other technology. • The combination of solar and diesel presents an efficient and flexible option, in particular with a small petrol generator (1.5kVA). For communal water supply it would not be considered due to the single energy source policy. However the community could decide to buy their own petrol generator. Do the participants consider the solar plus genset option a viable solution? The suppliers considered this to be the case. • Diesel pumps for larger number of livestock and people. This flexibility is considered an advantage by rural communities. However this may cause overexploitation of water resources and land in the vicinity of the water supply. In this regard water resource management is vital and is inherently part of a PVP. • Communal livestock keeping should take a more commercial approach by selling more rather than ending with large herds of cattle which become difficult to sustain in the communal areas. • The diesel fuel to rural communities used to be subsidised but that is no longer the case. • The diesel section in the report is to mention the supply risks explicitly. Also, the future of the diesel price is completely unpredicatable as it is not governed by local circumstance but by interantional events which are completely beyond Namibias control. • The diesel price will go up next week and the study should update the results with these prices. • Of the 7,000 DRWS administered water points, only 100 make use of PVP technology. Page 70 of 76
Feasibility Assessment for the Replacement of Diesel Pumps with Solar Pumps FINAL REPORT: September 2006 • Presenter: An advantage of a diesel engine is that it is moveable. • Suppliers felt that a PVP is also moveable, where in fact the whole installation can be moved (in the diesel engine case only the engine is moved – the head, rising main and pump stay in the borehole). However, a PVP is only completely moveable if the borehole specifications are similar. Furthermore, the diesel installation is considered to be overcapitalised in terms of the below ground installation (also concern about rusting pipes). • A comment was made to incorporate PVP with rural electrification as a more comprehensive service delivery. • PVP replacement include the controller, motor and pump – not the PV modules. • The time factor for dealing with the fuel purchase and the refuelling, operations etc, needs to be taken into consideration – the operator has to dedicate time to these issues and that needs to be reflected in the costing tool as an option to be activated. • The report should present the breakeven vs hydraulic load on a graph with head vs daily flowrate as well indicating the years to breakeven on the constant power lines. • It was suggested that the study runs a number of scenarios for the cost of diesel (best at a real escalation of 0%) where the diesel price is for example 6, 8, 10 and N$12 per litre. If possible, a factor should be stated which can be used to recalculate the years to breakeven. • The suppliers should improve the service delivery in the outlying areas. o This was felt to already be the case through the solar technicians which are able to locate the problems and also effect repairs. o It was suggested that more on-the-job training would be made available through the solar suppliers so that VTC students can learn the ropes in PVP technologies. • The study should be more concrete on theft prevention issues if theft is such an issue by providing a list of mitigatory actions. It was also raised that the amount of theft that is being anticipated is actully a myth and that the percentage of theft of installed PVPs is possibly very small – nobody could make a statement of the percentage of theft experienced. • It was recommended to the suppliers to be present and exhibit at auctions as this was where money was being traded. • It was mentioned that it is important to get influential people (chiefs) to lead the way in terms of PVP as other potential users may follow suite. • Will the PVP sector be ready to service an increased demand for PVPs? The response was positive. The presentation and discussion ended at 13:30. Page 71 of 76
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Solar PV water pumping study - FINAL REPORT ... - UNDP, Namibia

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