Cause of blackout unknown
29 June 2016 | Energy
NamPower yesterday apologised to its customers following a power outage during the lunch hour.
“NamPower wishes to inform the public that it experienced a power outage at 13:27 which affected most parts of the country,” it said in a brief statement.
Its manager for marketing and corporate communications, Tangeni Kambangula, said the cause of the outage was being investigated.
“The outage caused Aries/Kokkerboom 400 kV line to trip; this is the main line that feeds power from Eskom to Namibia. The tripping of the 400kV affected other transmission lines, as well as two generators at Ruacana and Van Eck Power Station,” Kambangula said.
Power supply to the affected areas was restored in phases, with the central areas being the first to be restored at 13:44.
“NamPower apologises to its customers and the public in general for any inconvenience that the outage may have caused,” Kambangula said.
Not the first time
In April, Namibia was hit by a countrywide power outage and some parts of the country were without power for several hours as NamPower worked on restoring supply.
At the time, it was said that the power outage was caused by a malfunctioning breaker at one of the turbines at the Ruacana hydropower plant.
Namibians panicked that it might be the start of regular blackouts while at the time there were rumours that South Africa had completely cut power supply to Namibia because of unpaid bills.
The malfunction followed after all four turbines had to be opened after South Africa reduced power supply to Namibia to 123.3 MV.
Namibia has two supply lines from South Africa, which are a 400kV line and a 220KV line. The 400kV line was down for maintenance therefore the country was connected only on the 220kV line and the supply from Ruacana.
When the power tripped at Ruacana it caused the 220kV line to trip too, hence the blackout countrywide.
STAFF REPORTER
“NamPower wishes to inform the public that it experienced a power outage at 13:27 which affected most parts of the country,” it said in a brief statement.
Its manager for marketing and corporate communications, Tangeni Kambangula, said the cause of the outage was being investigated.
“The outage caused Aries/Kokkerboom 400 kV line to trip; this is the main line that feeds power from Eskom to Namibia. The tripping of the 400kV affected other transmission lines, as well as two generators at Ruacana and Van Eck Power Station,” Kambangula said.
Power supply to the affected areas was restored in phases, with the central areas being the first to be restored at 13:44.
“NamPower apologises to its customers and the public in general for any inconvenience that the outage may have caused,” Kambangula said.
Not the first time
In April, Namibia was hit by a countrywide power outage and some parts of the country were without power for several hours as NamPower worked on restoring supply.
At the time, it was said that the power outage was caused by a malfunctioning breaker at one of the turbines at the Ruacana hydropower plant.
Namibians panicked that it might be the start of regular blackouts while at the time there were rumours that South Africa had completely cut power supply to Namibia because of unpaid bills.
The malfunction followed after all four turbines had to be opened after South Africa reduced power supply to Namibia to 123.3 MV.
Namibia has two supply lines from South Africa, which are a 400kV line and a 220KV line. The 400kV line was down for maintenance therefore the country was connected only on the 220kV line and the supply from Ruacana.
When the power tripped at Ruacana it caused the 220kV line to trip too, hence the blackout countrywide.
STAFF REPORTER
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