Title of paper

3. Legal framework

Both off-grid and grid-connected energy production from renewable energy resources requires a special institutional and legal framework which is not in place to date. This is not only bemoaned by independent power producers of renewable energies but also by state officials. As there is a mutual consent among all the involved stakeholders, including those who raise environmental arguments about not using one of the world’s best solar, wind and biomass resources to pave the way for renewable energy technologies, government has begun to work on a comprehensive legal framework which is by no means an easy task.¹⁴
The government is currently working on a number of projects:

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  Namibian Energy Regulatory Authority Act and (new) Electricity Act
  
• 
  Review of the White Paper and the New Energy Regulatory Framework
  
• 
  Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Act (planned as of 2010)
  
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  National Integrated Resource Plan (NIRP) and the Renewable Energy Procurement Mechanism (REPM) to collect more technical baseline data¹⁵
  

The situation of suspected power shortages has only recently prompted NamPower to implement various ad-hoc solutions under its Short-term Critical Supply Project to address the shortage of electricity. One of these projects is the Demand Side Management (DSM) project, which aims at reducing electricity demand on the network during peak times. Electricity supply constraints are addressed by implementing energy efficient and renewable energy technologies. The DSM project includes several initiatives in addition to the energy savings campaign that have been identified for implementation during 2014. These initiatives include:

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  The light emitting diode (LED) campaign
  
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  The twenty-thousand solar water heater campaign
  
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  The virtual power station (VPS) and demand reduction (DR) campaigns.
  

All these activities are undertaken under the ‘Power of Knowing’ theme.¹⁶
All government efforts are guided by the following principles which are the government’s official policy goals:

Security of supply

Social upliftment

Investment and growth

Economic competitiveness

Effective governance

Economic efficiency

Sustainability

3.1 Namibian statutory laws

Until now there are only two acts in place that at least mention the issue of properly dealing with renewable energies. The sector is not entirely regulated yet. The government is currently in the process of reviewing these acts.
The initial Electricity Act, dated from 2000, has subsequently been repealed by the Electricity Act, No 4 of 2007, which is still in force. Although the Electricity Act neither deals with renewable energies in detail nor provides any specific provisions for the regulation of the renewable energy market, it contains a rule of jurisdiction for renewable energies. Section 43(j) states: “The Minister may make regulations in relation to instalment and implementation of renewable energy technologies, the use thereof (including the placing of obligations on persons with regard thereto) and the provision of electricity there from.”
Thus, the Electricity Act explicitly states that under Namibian law, the entire renewable energy market can be regulated by regulation and the person in charge therefore, is the Minister. However, such regulations do not exist yet.
Many other jurisdictions throughout the world require an act of parliament for the decision on how to give direction to the development of renewable energies. It is questionable if such an important issue as the opening of the electricity market to renewable energies is not better left to parliament, as the democratically elected legislative authority. Generally, to strengthen a democracy, it is desirable to leave those decisions to parliament that are not only very costly for the tax payer, but more importantly, affect society as a whole, since electricity and its supply is a basic human need.

However, as the government is undertaking a law reform at the moment, there might be two acts in the future governing the electricity sector and thus, regulating the sector might not be left to the Minister by way of regulation.

In future there might be both the Namibian Energy Regulatory Authority Act and the (new) Electricity Act. While the first deals explicitly with the issue of renewable energies as well as electricity and downstream gas, the latter will only deal with electricity.
The National Energy Fund Act empowers the Minister to impose a levy on in Namibia generated hydropower and wind power for the benefit of the fund. Producers of renewable energies, however, do not benefit from the fund.

3.2 Projects, plans and programmes on renewable energies

For now there are numerous programmes, master plans and projects in place to enhance the use of renewable energies. They all have one thing in common; they are not binding.

White Paper on Energy Policy in Namibia	- Issued in 1998 and is still the basis for Namibia’s energy policy, currently under review. - States the seven energy goals of the government. All other programmes were initiated and implemented to meet these goals. - The role renewable energies can play for poverty reduction is one of the most important topics.
Rural Electrification Programme	- One of the biggest ever undertaken rural electrification programmes in Africa. It commenced in the densely populated central northern regions in 1991.^17 - Electrification was a priority after independence and since electricity via the grid was cheap, RE technologies were only regarded for off-grid electrification. The first rural electrification programme ran parallel to solar systems that were made available for those not benefiting from grid extension. - It is still in force, but nowadays a restricted approach has been undertaken. It only caters for government institutions, public institutions and business centres while individual homesteads are omitted. - In parallel with the grid electrification efforts a revolving credit fund for solar home systems was instituted in an attempt to provide remote rural households with electricity. The so-called Home Power Project was re-launched in 2011 as the Solar Revolving Fund.
Rural Electricity Distribution Master Plan (REDMP)	- Master plans were the next step of rural electrification. - Compiled in 2000 and updated in 2005, the time-frame of REDMP extends over a period of twenty years. - REDMP caters for smaller and more remote settlements and farms. - Rural areas were defined as those areas that fall outside the proclaimed municipal areas and include diverse settlement types ranging from commercial farms to communal areas. Informal settlements around urban areas are not included. - 5,858 settlements without electricity were identified. Of these, 1,543 were scheduled for electrification within the next 20 years. The unlucky remaining rest consists of more than 100,000 households. - REDMP considers both grid and off-grid electrification options and includes all 13 regions.
Off-Grid Energisation Master Plan (OGEMP)	- Released in 2006 and approved by the Namibian cabinet in 2007. - OGEMP has the aim to ensure that those areas, where grid electrification is unfeasible, will be appropriately developed through off-grid energy solutions based largely on solar energy technologies. - The Solar Revolving Fund (SRF) has been integrated under OGEMP. It was re-launched in 2011. Under the SRF scheme, communities have access to credit finance via the OGEMP revolving funds to make RE solutions affordable.^18 Clients obtain government loans for the installation of RE technologies. The SRF is an ownership model, where the end user purchases a solar system and thus, becomes the owner of the system. The owner is responsible for the system and its maintenance. The SRF is not only earmarked to finance solar home systems and solar water heaters but also photo-voltaic pumps and energy efficient fridges. The scheme is presently overwhelmed and has difficulties in meeting the demand for loans. - The energy shop concept is also part of OGEMP. Energy shops are supposed to sell suitable, approved energy products and compatible appliances and will inform people as to their use. They are also a central point for information dissemination and a networking hub and payment collection centre for loans under the SRF. Energy shops will be established in all 13 regions. A total of 180 shops are planned to be set up over the next 20 years with one energy shop in each region during the first year.^19 By now, at least one energy shop has been established in twelve of the thirteen regions.
Namibia Energy Efficiency Programme in Buildings (NEEP)	- NEEP is currently implemented. - It is a nationwide adoption of energy efficient technologies and practices in the commercial and residential building sector, with a focus on government office buildings, hospitals, hotels and schools. - A Green Building Council for Namibia has been established to implement a Green Building Rating System to promote and facilitate green building practices.
Namibian Renewable Energy Programme (NAMREP)	- NAMREP ran in two phases between 2004 and 2010. - It aimed at raising awareness and training among state officials, other decision makers and ordinary people.
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Capacity Building Programme (REEECAP)	- REEECAP ran from 2006 to 2008. - 21 sub-projects were undertaken under REEECAP. - One of these projects, called Electricity Supply and Demand Management Options, was the first study that compared alternative energy sources, fossil fuels and hydro electricity options plus various possible supply mixes. The interesting conclusion, from an electricity price perspective, was that on the one hand the maximum renewable scenario would cause the highest electricity prices. On the other hand, the scenario would make the greatest contribution to GDP due to high construction costs involved in building additional hydroelectric power stations and also the requirement of significant plant size for concentrating solar power stations.