ORC hands over solar plants to Cenored

OTJIWARONGO, 18 MAY – The Otjozondjupa Regional Council (ORC) on Friday officially handed over its solar plants at Tsumkwe and Gam to the Central North Regional Electricity Distributor (Cenored), for operations and maintenance purposes.
Chairperson of the Otjozondjupa Regional Council, Julius Neumbo and Cenored Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mburumba Appolus on Friday at Otjiwarongo signed the agreement between the two institutions.
Administration affairs of the Tsumkwe and Gam settlements fall under the Otjozondjupa Regional Council.
Neumbo, in his handing over remarks at the event, said the Tsumkwe and Gam solar projects were funded by the European Union (EU) and Ministry of Mines and Energy after the regional council approached them for funding.
Neumbo said this was possible after his council failed to fund the connections of electricity of the two settlements to the main grid situated about 300 and 400 kilometres outside Grootfontein with an estimate N.dollars 200 million.
“This figure was considered too high for us and not economically viable,” said Neumbo.
The EU agreed to fund the Tsumkwe solar plant with N.dollars 21 million, while the ministry provided N.dollars 31 million for the Gam solar field.
Neumbo said the regional council was then left with a challenge to operate and maintain these two solar plants, and decided to approach Cenored which is tasked by Government to distribute electricity in the region.
On 01 July 2017, Cenored accepted and took over the plants and also deployed technical staff members to the sites who are now operating the two solar plants.
Appolus on Friday said his company is happy and proud to be associated with the Tsumkwe and Gam solar systems since a duty to supply and distribute electricity there also falls under the company’s primary mandate.
“We at Cenored have a belief that by providing people with electricity, poverty can be eliminated, therefore, we are happy today to do so in these two rural areas of Tsumkwe and Gam,” said Appolus.
Constituency councillors for Okakarara, Vetaruhe Kandorozu and Israel Hukura of Omatako and officials of the (ORC) also witnessed the signing ceremony.

NAMPA