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A look at a Namibian power milestone
7 May 2010
By: Jana-Mari Smith (The Namibian)
One month before the proverbial ‘ON’ button will power up the Caprivi Link Interconnector, The Namibian gained exclusive access to the Gerus Converter Station, one of two identical substations in Namibia.
The N$3,2 billion Caprivi Link project is nearing completion and on June 1, the two stations will power on.
The primary function of the Caprivi Link Interconnector, which consists of the Zambezi and Gerus Converter Stations, is to provide Namibia and its sub-Saharan neighbours an alternative route for power imports and exports.
In many aspects, the Caprivi Link Interconnector is a first on the African continent, and it is viewed with great pride by all those involved in the construction of the substations.
What makes the stations absolutely unique is that they use highly advanced technology to convert DC electricity into the household staple AC electricity and vice versa. It also transmits the electricity via a 970-kilometre overhead direct current line between the substations, which is another landmark achievement in Africa.
The Caprivi Link Interconnector will be able to transmit at maximum capacity 300 MW of electricity between the substations, more than a third of Namibia’s total power needs.
NamPower employed the services of ABB Sweden and ABB Contracting Namibia. The project’s engineering and design was done by ABB Sweden while the installation, supervision and commission of the project was done by ABB Contracting, a Namibian firm.
All involved in the construction and design of the project have boasted about the fact that the project is a huge step in African power technologies, and will turn the spotlight on Namibia as a power link between sub-Saharan countries.
One of the men on site said last weekend that being a part of the construction of this unique plant was “an honour.”
The Gerus and Zambezi substations are fully automated and kilometres of underground cables are in place to continuously monitor and transmit information to an operational centre in adjacent buildings.
There are six steps to the conversion process at the plant. First, the DC current arrives in the ‘DC yard’ from where it is then transmitted to the DC hall. During these two steps the electricity is mainly filtered before it enters the “heart of the operations”, the valve hall.
The valve hall, an eerily shiny and cavernous hall, houses the IGBT switches, or valves, which will convert the DC electricity into the AC electricity.
The peculiar shine in the valve hall stems from the fact that every object, from top to bottom, including the floor, walls and ceiling, is covered in aluminium. The aluminium acts as a shield against the highly magnetised environment this hall will become once it is operational.
Temperature regulation in the valve hall is crucial. A heating system is in place that will maintain a hot environment at 70 degrees Celsius at all times. While the power station is running, the only human contact with the hall will be through a small window, covered with special glass, through which one can look into the room.
A special double-door system is in place, which, if opened while the power station is running, will immediately signal and activate the shutdown of the plant.
Next in line is the reactor hall, where three reactors will store and filter the AC current as it exits the valve hall. After that, the AC current is transmitted into the AC hall and then it exits the building into the open-air AC yard from where the AC current finally enters the rest of Namibia’s power grid.
The plant, which is fully automated, is linked via an intricate, extensive network of monitoring cables, 80 per cent of which merge the information in the ‘brain’, the monitoring room located in an adjacent building.
By: Jana-Mari Smith (The Namibian)
One month before the proverbial ‘ON’ button will power up the Caprivi Link Interconnector, The Namibian gained exclusive access to the Gerus Converter Station, one of two identical substations in Namibia.
The N$3,2 billion Caprivi Link project is nearing completion and on June 1, the two stations will power on.
The primary function of the Caprivi Link Interconnector, which consists of the Zambezi and Gerus Converter Stations, is to provide Namibia and its sub-Saharan neighbours an alternative route for power imports and exports.
In many aspects, the Caprivi Link Interconnector is a first on the African continent, and it is viewed with great pride by all those involved in the construction of the substations.
What makes the stations absolutely unique is that they use highly advanced technology to convert DC electricity into the household staple AC electricity and vice versa. It also transmits the electricity via a 970-kilometre overhead direct current line between the substations, which is another landmark achievement in Africa.
The Caprivi Link Interconnector will be able to transmit at maximum capacity 300 MW of electricity between the substations, more than a third of Namibia’s total power needs.
NamPower employed the services of ABB Sweden and ABB Contracting Namibia. The project’s engineering and design was done by ABB Sweden while the installation, supervision and commission of the project was done by ABB Contracting, a Namibian firm.
All involved in the construction and design of the project have boasted about the fact that the project is a huge step in African power technologies, and will turn the spotlight on Namibia as a power link between sub-Saharan countries.
One of the men on site said last weekend that being a part of the construction of this unique plant was “an honour.”
The Gerus and Zambezi substations are fully automated and kilometres of underground cables are in place to continuously monitor and transmit information to an operational centre in adjacent buildings.
There are six steps to the conversion process at the plant. First, the DC current arrives in the ‘DC yard’ from where it is then transmitted to the DC hall. During these two steps the electricity is mainly filtered before it enters the “heart of the operations”, the valve hall.
The valve hall, an eerily shiny and cavernous hall, houses the IGBT switches, or valves, which will convert the DC electricity into the AC electricity.
The peculiar shine in the valve hall stems from the fact that every object, from top to bottom, including the floor, walls and ceiling, is covered in aluminium. The aluminium acts as a shield against the highly magnetised environment this hall will become once it is operational.
Temperature regulation in the valve hall is crucial. A heating system is in place that will maintain a hot environment at 70 degrees Celsius at all times. While the power station is running, the only human contact with the hall will be through a small window, covered with special glass, through which one can look into the room.
A special double-door system is in place, which, if opened while the power station is running, will immediately signal and activate the shutdown of the plant.
Next in line is the reactor hall, where three reactors will store and filter the AC current as it exits the valve hall. After that, the AC current is transmitted into the AC hall and then it exits the building into the open-air AC yard from where the AC current finally enters the rest of Namibia’s power grid.
The plant, which is fully automated, is linked via an intricate, extensive network of monitoring cables, 80 per cent of which merge the information in the ‘brain’, the monitoring room located in an adjacent building.
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