The Namibia Power Corporation (NamPower) has acquired two mobile sub-stations worth N$55 million, improving its ability to rapidly restore power during transformer failures.

Speaking to Nampa after the arrival of the two substations here on Tuesday, NamPower Senior Engineer Elsebi Gadney said the substations are rated at 20 megavolt-amperes (MVA), offering versatile voltage ratios of 132/66kV to 33/11kV and 132/66kV to 22/11kV, respectively.

Gadney said the substations will be used to provide temporary supply if required to, when a customer has to be connected quickly, or for maintenance purposes.

“So, they are basically plug and play… They are very significant to maintain security of electricity supply and continuity of supply in any operational circumstances where you need a transformer quite quickly,” she added.

The two substations are additional to the already existing small 10MVA mobile substation.

Gadney said that the substations were assembled in South Africa, and brought to Namibia by road over six days.

The project was initiated in 2018, and marks a significant milestone for NamPower.

In a symbolic gesture, the two new mobile substations have been named ‘Rhino’ and ‘Buffalo’, joining the existing ‘Lion’ substation. The names reflect their mobile nature and the ‘Big Five’ theme. – Nampa