Ruacana Power Station | |
---|---|
Country | Namibia |
Location | Ruacana, Ruacana Constituency, Omusati Region |
Coordinates | 17°23′40.23″S14°13′9.22″E / 17.3945083°S 14.2192278°E Coordinates: 17°23′40.23″S14°13′9.22″E / 17.3945083°S 14.2192278°E |
Status | Operational |
Commission date | 1978/2012 |
Owner(s) | NamPower |
Thermal power station | |
Primary fuel | Water |
Power generation | |
Units operational | 3 x 80 MW (110,000 hp), 1 x 90 MW Francis-type |
Nameplate capacity | 330 MW (440,000 hp) |
The Ruacana Power Station is a hydroelectric power plant near Ruacana in northwest Namibia, close to the Angolan border.
The power station is operated by Namibia's national power utility company, NamPower.
The first three 80 MW Francis turbine-generators were commissioned in 1978.
A fourth Francis turbine-generator at 90 MW was built by Alstom, Andrits Hydro and Concor and commissioned on 5 April 2012. [1] [2]
Water for the power station is stored in a dam just above the Ruacana Falls along the Cunene River in Angola. Several dams upstream help regulate the Cunene River to help the power station operate more efficiently. The Calueque Dam in Calueque, Angola is under construction. Further up is the Gove Dam in west-central Angola and the Olushandja Dam, on the tributary, Etaka River, is in Namibia. [3]
The power station is located underground near the bottom of the falls and has an installed capacity of 330 megawatts (440,000 hp). [4]
The Cunene or Kunene is a river in Southern Africa. It flows from the Angola highlands south to the border with Namibia. It then flows west along the border until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the few perennial rivers in the region. It is about 1,050 kilometres (652 mi) long, with a drainage basin 106,560 square kilometres (41,143 sq mi) in area. Its mean annual discharge is 174 m3/s at its mouth. The Epupa Falls lie on the river. Olushandja Dam dams a tributary of the river, the Etaka, and helps provide the Ruacana Power Station with water.
Ruacana is a town in Omusati Region, northern Namibia and the district capital of the Ruacana electoral constituency. It is located on the border with Angola on the river Kunene. The town is known for the picturesque Ruacana Falls nearby, and for the Ruacana Power Station.
NamPower is the national power utility company of Namibia. NamPower was founded in 1964 as the South West Africa Water and Electricity Corporation (SWAWEK) by the government of South Africa. Its offices are located in Windhoek. The early history of the company revolves around the Kunene River hydroelectric project.
Calueque is a town next to a dam and pumping station of the same name on the Kunene River in the Kunene Province of southern Angola. The water project is linked to Ruacana, 20 km (12 mi) away in Namibia, where the Ruacana Power Station is. This dam is one of the last landmarks along the Kunene River, prior to the Kunene becoming a border feature between Angola and Namibia. A 300 km (190 mi) pipeline and canal extends across the border into Namibia, supplying towns as far away as Oshakati in Ovamboland with water. The dam was completed in 1976. However, due to the onset of the Angolan civil war following independence, the full master plan for the scheme was not realised by the South African and Portuguese governments.
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Olushandja Dam is a dam on the Etaka River outside of Oshakati in the Oshana Region of Namibia. The dam was completed in 1990. Its lake has a maximum capacity of 42.331 million cubic metres, and stores water from the Calueque Dam on the Cunene River in nearby Angola which supports the Ruacana Power Station downstream.
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The Salto Santiago Hydroelectric Power Plant is a dam and hydroelectric power plant on the Iguazu River near Santiago in Paraná, Brazil. It is the third dam upstream of the Iguazu Falls and was completed in 1979. The power station has a 1,420 MW capacity and is supplied with water by a rock-fill embankment dam.
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