Need assessment of electricity in Namibia : Prerequisites for implementation of a small scale wind turbine

Namibia is one of the most sparsely populated countries and with a total area of 825 000 km 2. There are still many residents in the country without access to electricity and a rapid technological development the need for electricity is increasing constantly. However, the expansion of the electricity grid is slow and costly, resulting in that many cannot afford to be connected and therefore have a need at small scale production have been identified. For this reason it was chosen to investigate this need closer and examine how a small-scale vertical axis wind turbine designed by InnovEd would meet the need and identify suitable sites to promote wind turbine. Additionally an identification of possible changes in wind turbine performance and guidance and recommendation for future work were desired. In this study it was chosen to follow a grounded theory where the qualitative data was collected through interviews and general observations during a field trip in northern Namibia. The data were collected for two months in collaboration with the Creative Entrepreneurs Solutions. The results showed that the need for electricity in rural areas was large but that a small amount of electricity can make a big difference to primarily run the most important things. Lighting turned out to be most significant for the respondents, even if they would like to have all electrical equipment for everything. This was in line with the literature that shows that it is normally the next step after meeting the most basic needs. It showed also saw that the price of electricity was of very great importance. Finally, the authors recommend continuing to involve the user in the next stages of development where the first step is to test the product with the user and the pricing. This is followed by the creation of a business and production plan for this product to get a market as soon as possible.