DESPITE not much rain having fallen at Ruacana so far this year, the flow of water over the falls has been such that since the first week of January the hydro-electric power plant has been able to run at full capacity.
Weekly average river flow data at the Ruacana falls have been well above the flow of 210 cubic metres per second required for the power plant to run at full throttle.The lowest river flow in January was 481 cubic metres per second and the highest was 686 cubic metres per second.The strong river flow over the falls continued in February as the lowest recorded data show an average of 411 cubic metres per second, with highest recorded average flow recorded at 747 cubic metres per second. The trend has continued into March, with the average flow over the falls above 1 000 cubic metres per second for each of the last two weeks.The hydropower station at Ruacana has the capacity to generate a maximum of 240 megawatts (MW) per day, and Namibia currently has an average daily power usage of approximately 370 MW. The shortfall in electricity generation is made up through electricity imports from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia.NamPower is busy with the installation of a fourth N$400 million turbine at the Ruacana power station, which will be capable of generating 80 MW per day. Tangeni Kambangula, public relations officer for NamPower, indicated that the turbine will be operational in the first quarter of next year.When asked what Namibia’s power demand has been in recent times, Kambangula said that the mushrooming of mining activities along the coast has contributed to increased demand. She also said that a number of other industrial activities, such as the newly opened Ohorongo cement factory, have also played a significant part in increased demand. Kambangula stated that in general, the average normal growth in demand has been between 3 and 6 per cent.
