Swakop Uranium, a subsidiary of state-owned China General Nuclear Power Group, has signed a joint venture deal with Namibia’s water utility, NamWater, to construct the country’s second desalination plant close to Swakopmund.
The new plant, only the second of its type in one of Africa’s driest countries, will help bolster water supplies to the country’s largest uranium mine, Husab, and support communities in the Erongo region of Namibia, close to the Atlantic Ocean.
In a statement on Tuesday, the joint venture partners said negotiations had ended successfully and the project’s implementation phase would now start. Swakop Uranium holds a 70% stake and NamWater the remainder.
“The next steps include the registration of the Erongo Sunam Desalination Project Joint Venture Company, the detailed engineering, environmental assessments, financing arrangements and construction planning,” according to the statement.
The new 20-million cubic-meter facility, on the cards since 1998, is expected to provide stable and cost-effective water supply to Swakop Uranium’s Husab mine, as well as neighbouring mines and communities.
Husab mine is the world’s largest open-pit uranium mine and the largest consumer of water in the Erongo region and the second-largest single consumer of water in the country after the City of Windhoek, officials said.
NamWater’s spokesperson, Lot Ndamanomhata, declined to disclose how much the project would cost, although local newspapers reported an estimated N$3-billion cost.