Power failure in Windhoek sparks blackout

MOST suburbs in Windhoek were plunged into darkness for nearly two hours on Monday evening after a sudden power failure caused by a trip in a line-breaker close to the Van Eck power station.

The power outage affected parts of Katutura, the Lafrenz Industrial area, Goreangab, Windhoek West, Olympia, Kleine Kuppe, Maerua Mall, Klein Windhoek and as far east as Namibia Dairies. Technicians from the municipal electricity department immediately sprang into action and located the fault.Electricity was restored after one hour in some suburbs, while other parts had to wait for two hours.NamPower has already repaired the faulty line-breaker at Van Eck, while electricians from the municipality were due to complete repairs on the city lines and some of the 66 kV feeders by yesterday afternoon.”The 66kV line-breaker at Van Eck malfunctioned and caused supply points there to trip and that is why larger parts of the City were affected,” said Ronnie Beukes, Senior Electrical System Controller at the municipality.”Everything is back to normal again,” Beukes told The Namibian yesterday.Technicians from the municipal electricity department immediately sprang into action and located the fault.Electricity was restored after one hour in some suburbs, while other parts had to wait for two hours.NamPower has already repaired the faulty line-breaker at Van Eck, while electricians from the municipality were due to complete repairs on the city lines and some of the 66 kV feeders by yesterday afternoon.”The 66kV line-breaker at Van Eck malfunctioned and caused supply points there to trip and that is why larger parts of the City were affected,” said Ronnie Beukes, Senior Electrical System Controller at the municipality.”Everything is back to normal again,” Beukes told The Namibian yesterday.