The governments of Angola and Namibia propose to build a large hydropower dam (known as the ‘Baynes Hydropower Project [(HPP]’) on the lower Kunene River to supply power to both countries. An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) was undertaken in the 2010s and the dam was approved but has not yet been built.
Rede Nacional de Transporte de Electricidade (RNT) and Namibia Power Corporation (NamPower), with support from the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), propose to construct two 400 kilovolt (kV) high voltage transmission lines (‘Integration of the proposed 600MW Baynes Hydro-Power Project into the Angola and Namibia Power Systems’ [Baynes HPP 400kV Transmission Lines Project]) to transmit power generated at the Baynes HPP to a substation to be built at Cahama in Angola and to the Kunene Substation in Namibia.
SRK Consulting (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd (SRK), together with sub-contractors Holísticos in Angola and Urban Dynamics in Namibia, has been appointed by SAPP to conduct two ESIAs (in Angola and Namibia respectively) for the transmission lines.
Two corridors have been selected for the transmission lines. The Baynes - Cahama route in Angola is ~179 km long and the Baynes - Kunene route in Namibia is ~173 km long. The ESIAs will help identify the optimal line route within each corridor, assess environmental and social impacts of the line routes and recommend appropriate mitigation and management measures to manage those impacts.
