The environmental impact assessment and project planning process for Rössing Uranium Limited’s proposed solar plant formally concluded on 11 August 2025.
As part of this process, the company engaged with Interested and Affected Parties (IAPs), including local communities, authorities, and organisations likely to be affected by the project.
Their feedback on issues such as land use, dust, water demand, and socio-economic impacts was recorded and addressed in the environmental studies.
Following the IAP consultations, the findings were consolidated into a final Environmental Impact Report and Environmental Management Plan, which were submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism for review.
The ministry’s decision, in the form of an Environmental Clearance Certificate, will determine whether the project can proceed.
Rössing Uranium Limited (RUL), the owner of the country’s oldest uranium mine, is conducting a feasibility study on the construction of a solar photovoltaic power plant that will directly support the electricity supply to the mine, its processing plant, and associated infrastructure.
Rössing began production in 1976 and remains one of the longest-running open-pit uranium mines in the world.
It has a nameplate production capacity of approximately 4,500 tonnes of uranium oxide per year and, in 2023, produced around 2,462 tonnes.
Over the years, the mine has become one of Namibia’s largest single industrial consumers of electricity, drawing significant power from NamPower’s national grid to operate its mining fleet, processing plant, and water systems.
In 2022, the mine consumed approximately 1.18 million gigajoules of energy to produce 2,681 tonnes of uranium oxide, corresponding to an energy intensity of around 442 gigajoules per tonne.
Based on 2023 production levels, consumption is likely just over one million gigajoules.
Rising electricity costs, together with increasing pressure to cut carbon emissions, have sharpened the mine’s focus on energy efficiency and self-sufficiency.
According to Rössing Uranium’s 2024 Sustainability and Performance Report, construction began in the first quarter of 2024 on an 18 MWp (15 MW AC) photovoltaic solar power plant.
Once completed, it will supply electricity directly to the processing plant via a 6,800-metre overhead transmission line.
The project occupies a 72-hectare portion of the mine’s Accessory Works Area, located between the mine access road, the B2 national road, and the NamWater pipeline, with the Rössing reservoirs situated about a kilometre to the northeast.
A 6.95-kilometre overhead distribution line will link the plant with the Rössing Substation.
For most of its length, this line will run alongside the existing 11 kV powerline to Arandis before diverting onto a new servitude for the final two kilometres.
The line will also utilise a corridor already carrying an older wooden “wishbone” monopole design, thereby reducing the need for additional land clearance.
Earlier project schedules targeted December 2022 for procurement, May 2023 for construction, and completion by December 2023.
Ongoing feasibility assessments overtook these milestones.
Procurement now depends on final board approval, the issuing of a generation licence by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, and environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism.
Construction of the solar facility is expected to create about 80 jobs over six months, with a peak workforce of 180 for around two months.
As far as possible, Rössing has indicated that workers will be sourced from within the Erongo Region, with contractors transporting them daily from Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, and Arandis.
The solar plant, with its 18 MWp capacity, is expected to generate more than 36,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually, depending on operating conditions. This output has the potential to offset between 10 and 30 per cent of the mine’s current power needs, helping to reduce reliance on grid electricity, lower operating costs, and cut emissions.
