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Southern Africa: Conserve Electricity- Nampower
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New Era (Windhoek)
25 July 2008
Posted to the web 25 July 2008
Petronella Sibeene
Windhoek
The shutdown of one of the two units at Koeberg Nuclear Power Station in South Africa has increased the vulnerability of the power system in Namibia, prompting NamPower to appeal to the public to conserve electricity.
Namibia imports over 50 percent of its energy needs from South Africa.
Considering that NamPower system is interconnected to Koeberg in the Western Cape, any disruptions in terms of power generation in South Africa automatically affect Namibia.
NamPower Manager of Corporate Communications, John Kaimu, yesterday told New Era that the shutting down of one unit at the 900 megawatts nuclear power station has created transmission constraints to Namibia.
Similarly, Eskom, the South African power utility has experienced transmission constraint on its lines from the Mpumalanga area to the Western Cape as a result of the problems at Koeberg.
NamPower said it is monitoring the situation on an hourly basis and will keep all its customers and the public informed of any developments regarding the power supply situation.
The shutdown occurred at 7pm on Monday night after a technical fault necessitated unplanned maintenance work.
Due to stringent safety requirements, the shutting-down procedure, repairs and restarting procedure will take about three weeks to complete, Eskom said.
NamPower yesterday said one of the Koeberg's units near Cape Town was switched off on Monday after technical problems were experienced.
Maintenance on the unit started on Tuesday and is expected to be completed within three weeks, Kaimu said. He added that so far, Namibia has not experienced major disruptions of electricity supply.
"NamPower is in constant contact with suppliers in the region, including Eskom, to ensure sufficient procurement and supply of electricity to Namibia," Kaimu said. However, NamPower warns that the electricity supply situation remains critical and Namibians should continue implementing electricity saving measures.
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These include switching off non-essential electrical equipment including air conditioning, geysers and swimming pool pumps to reduce the demand for electricity.
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