Erongo Desalination Plant

Erongo Desalination Plant
	Location of Erongo Desalination Plant
Desalination plant
Location	Wlotzkasbaken, Erongo Region, Namibia
Coordinates	22°22′19″S14°26′28″E / 22.37194°S 14.44111°E Coordinates: 22°22′19″S14°26′28″E / 22.37194°S 14.44111°E
Estimated output	20,000,000 cubic meters (2.0×1010 L) of water annually
Extended output	45,000,000 cubic meters (4.5×1010 L) of water annually
Cost	N$2.5 billion (US$153 million)
Technology	Reverse osmosis, Chlorination
Operation date	1 June 2010;12 years ago

Last updated October 29, 2022

The Erongo Desalination Plant, also known as the Orano Desalination Plant, is a sea water desalination plant in Namibia. The facility was constructed between 2008 and 2010 by Orano Mining Namibia, which at the time was known as Areva Resources Namibia. The desalination plant was established to supply water to Orano’s Trekkopje Uranium Mine. At the time this plant was commissioned, it was the largest reverse osmosis desalination plant in Southern Africa.^[1]^[2]

Location

The desalination plant is located in the Namib Desert, near the settlement of Wlotzkasbaken, in the Erongo Region of Namibia. The plant is located approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Swakopmund, the nearest large town.^[1] Swakopmund is located approximately 391 kilometres (243 mi) by road, west of Windhoek, the capital and largest city in the country.^[3] The geographical coordinates of Erongo Desalination Plant are 22°22'19.0"S, 14°26'28.0"E (Latitude:-22.371944; Longitude:14.441111).^[4]

Overview

The Erongo Desalination Plant was developed and is owned by Orano Resources Namibia (formerly Areva Resources Namibia). The purified drinking water was primarily intended for use in Orano's uranium mine known as the Trekkopje Mine, located near Arandis, Namibia.^[5] The clean water has to be pumped from the plant to Arandis, a straight-line distance of about 60 kilometres (37 mi) and a road distance of approximately 90 kilometres (56 mi).^[6] The plant is operated by Nafasi Water, a "water technology and water utility service company", based in Germiston, Gauteng, South Africa.^[1]

The potable water is then sold to NamWater, the national water utility company, for distribution to the city of Swakopmund, the nearby mines and other areas of Erongo Region. Output can be varied according to demand ranging from 12,000,000 cubic meters (1.2×10¹⁰ L) annually to 26,000,000 cubic meters (2.6×10¹⁰ L), with the present infrastructure. If the need arose new infrastructure can be added to supply 45,000,000 cubic meters (4.5×10¹⁰ L) annually.^[1]^[5]

The raw sea water is taken through the following processes, during purification: (a) screen filtration (b) ultrafiltration (c) reverse osmosis (d) limestone contact and (e) chlorination.^[5]

Cost

The development of this water treatment plant cost N$2.5 billion (approx. US$153 million) in 2010.^[1]^[7]

Other developments

In July 2022, the owners of this facility signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with InnoSun (a subsidiary of the French firm InnoVent) to design, build, own, operate and maintain a 5 MW solar power station and supply that energy to Erongo Desalination Plant for a 10-year contract term, starting on the date of commercial commissioning. Construction is expected to start during the second half of 2022, with commissioning expected in 2023. Orano expects the new solar farm to reduce the desalination plant's carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent or nearly 10,000 metric tonnes annually.^[7]

Related Research Articles

Erongo is one of the 14 regions of Namibia. The capital is Swakopmund. It is named after Mount Erongo, a well-known landmark in Namibia and in this area. Erongo contains the municipalities of Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Henties Bay and Omaruru, as well as the towns Arandis, Karibib and Usakos. All the main centres within this region are connected by paved roads.

Swakopmund is a city on the coast of western Namibia, 352 km (219 mi) west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo administrative district. The town has 44,725 inhabitants and covers 196 square kilometres (76 sq mi) of land. The city is situated in the Namib Desert and is the fourth largest population centre in Namibia.

Henties Bay is a coastal town in the Erongo Region of western Namibia. It is located 70 km north of Swakopmund and is an important holiday settlement. 70 kilometres to the north of the town is the seal colony of Cape Cross. The town had 4,720 inhabitants in 2011, up from 3,285 in 2001. The mayor of Henties Bay is Herman /Honeb.

Trekkopje is a mountain in the Erongo Region of Namibia, c. 85 kilometres (53 mi) north-east of Swakopmund on the road to Usakos.

The Swakop River is a major river in western central Namibia. Its river source is in the Khomas Highland. From there it flows westwards through the town of Okahandja, the historic mission station at Gross Barmen, and the settlement of Otjimbingwe. It then crosses the Namib desert and reaches the Atlantic Ocean at Swakopmund. The Swakop is an ephemeral river; its run-off is roughly 40 million cubic metres per annum.

Arandis is a town in the Erongo Region of western central Namibia. It has been called the Uranium Capital of the World as it is located just 15 km outside the world's largest open-pit uranium mine, the Rössing Uranium Mine.

Arandis Airport is an airport serving Arandis, a town in the Erongo Region of Namibia. The airport is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Arandis. The town and airport also provide service to the Rössing Uranium Mine, one of the world's largest open-pit uranium mines.

Namibia is an arid country that is regularly afflicted by droughts. Large rivers flow only along its northern and southern borders, but they are far from the population centers. They are also far from the country's mines, which are large water users. In order to confront this challenge, the country has built dams to capture the flow from ephemeral rivers, constructed pipelines to transport water over large distances, pioneered potable water reuse in its capital Windhoek located in the central part of Namibia, and built Sub-Saharan Africa's first large seawater desalination plant to supply a uranium mine and the city of Swakopmund with water. A large scheme to bring water from the Okavango River in the North to Windhoek, the Eastern National Water Carrier, was only partially completed during the 1980s.

Wlotzkasbaken or Wlotzka's Baken is a holiday settlement on Namibia's Atlantic coast, situated approximately halfway between Swakopmund and Hentiesbay. The area around the village lies within the Dorob National Park and features extensive lichen colonies.

Namibia has one of the richest uranium mineral reserves in the world. There are currently 2 large operating mines in the Erongo Region and various exploration projects planned to advanve to production in the next few years.

Lichens are a symbiotic relationship between a fungus and an algae. They are well adapted to survive in harsh conditions. One of the many places they can be found is the Namibian Desert. Fog in the coastal parts of the desert provides the necessary moisture for the organisms' survival. In the Namib they grow on shrubs, rocks and pebbles of the gravel plains. These small organisms can densely cover large areas, forming lichen fields.

Orano SA is a multinational nuclear fuel cycle company headquartered in Châtillon, Hauts-de-Seine, France. The company is engaged in uranium mining, conversion-enrichment, spent fuel recycling, nuclear logistics, dismantling, and nuclear cycle engineering activities. It was created in 2017 as a result of restructuring and recapitalizing of the nuclear conglomerate Areva. Orano is majority owned by the French state. As of September 2021, Orano is the second largest uranium producer in the world with 9% share in global uranium production.

The Baynes Hydroelectric Power Station is a planned 600 megawatts (804,613 hp) hydroelectric power plant in northwest Namibia, at the border with Angola.

The Khan Solar Power Station, is a 20 megawatts (27,000 hp) solar power plant under construction in Namibia. The project is owned and under development by Access Aussenkehr Solar One Namibia a Namibian independent power producer (IPP), based in Windhoek, the country's capital city. The energy generated here will be purchased by NamPower, the national electricity utility company, which is wholly owned by the government of Namibia. A 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA), governs the terms under which the energy will be sold and bought.

The TeraSun Energy Solar Power Station is a planned 81 megawatts solar power plant in Namibia. The power station is owned and is being developed by a consortium comprising Natura Energy, a Namibia-based energy company and Globleq Africa Limited, an independent power producer (IPP), headquartered in the United Kingdom.

The Mamelles Desalination Plant is a sea water desalination plant under construction in the city of Dakar in Senegal. The facility is under development by the government of Senegal, with financial support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The Senegalese national water company, SONES, is developing the project on behalf on the Senegalese government, and the Japanese private company Nippon Koei, is developing the project, on behalf of JICA. Construction started in June 2022, at a budgeted cost of €200 million and an expected output of 50,000 cubic meters (50,000,000 L) of desalinated potable water every day in the first phase, expandable to 100,000 cubic meters (100,000,000 L) daily, in the second phase.

The Omburu Solar Power Station, is a 20 megawatts solar power station in Namibia. The power station, which was developed and is owned by Namibia Power Corporation (Proprietary) Limited (NamPower), was constructed between March 2021 and June 2022 and was commercially commissioned on 24 June 2022. NamPower integrates the energy generated here, calculated at 67.8 GWh annually, into the Namibian grid. This is the first grid-connected PV solar power station, fully owned and operated by NamPower.

The Bethanie Desalination Plant, also Bethany Desalination Plant, is a brackish water desalination plant in the settlement of Bethanie, in Namibia. The facility is owned and was developed by the Namibia Water Corporation (NamWater). The potable water produced by this plant, whose capacity production is 487 cubic meters (487,000 L) per day, is expected to supply the town of Bethanie until 2037.

References

1 2 3 4 5 Donald Matthys (3 June 2020). "Erongo Desalination Plant Provided 55 Million Cubic Meters Potable Water To The Region During 10-Year Operation Period". Namibia Economist . Windhoek, Namibia. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
↑ Inès Magoum (14 June 2021). "Namibia: Towards the construction of a new desalination plant in the coastal zone". Afrik21.africa. Paris, France. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
↑ Google (21 August 2021). "Road Distance Between Windhoek, Namibia And Wlotzkasbaken, Namibia With Interactive Map" (Map). Google Maps . Google. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
↑ Google (21 August 2021). "Location of Erongo Desalination Plant" (Map). Google Maps . Google. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
1 2 3 Adam Hartman (5 December 2019). "Desalination plant output hits record high". The Namibian . Windhoek, Namibia. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
↑ Google (21 August 2021). "Road Distance Between Wlotzkasbaken, Namibia And Arandis, Namibia With Map" (Map). Google Maps . Google. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
1 2 Jean Marie Takouleu (5 July 2022). "Namibia: Orano to equip its Erongo desalination plant with a 5 MWp solar park". Afrik21.africa. Paris, France. Retrieved 5 July 2022.

External links

Orano gives Erongo desalinated water As of 18 May 2020.

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[1R-1] 1 2 3 4 5 Donald Matthys (3 June 2020). "Erongo Desalination Plant Provided 55 Million Cubic Meters Potable Water To The Region During 10-Year Operation Period". Namibia Economist . Windhoek, Namibia. Retrieved 21 August 2021.

[2R-2] Inès Magoum (14 June 2021). "Namibia: Towards the construction of a new desalination plant in the coastal zone". Afrik21.africa. Paris, France. Retrieved 21 August 2021.

[3R-3] Google (21 August 2021). "Road Distance Between Windhoek, Namibia And Wlotzkasbaken, Namibia With Interactive Map" (Map). Google Maps . Google. Retrieved 21 August 2021.

[4R-4] Google (21 August 2021). "Location of Erongo Desalination Plant" (Map). Google Maps . Google. Retrieved 21 August 2021.

[5R-5] 1 2 3 Adam Hartman (5 December 2019). "Desalination plant output hits record high". The Namibian . Windhoek, Namibia. Retrieved 21 August 2021.

[6R-6] Google (21 August 2021). "Road Distance Between Wlotzkasbaken, Namibia And Arandis, Namibia With Map" (Map). Google Maps . Google. Retrieved 21 August 2021.

[7R-7] 1 2 Jean Marie Takouleu (5 July 2022). "Namibia: Orano to equip its Erongo desalination plant with a 5 MWp solar park". Afrik21.africa. Paris, France. Retrieved 5 July 2022.

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