WINDHOEK, June 22– Namibia’s state-owned power utility NamPower on Monday officially inaugurated the Sekelduin Substation near Swakopmund, a digital facility to enhance electricity supply and support growing industrial and mining demand in the Erongo Region.
The 132/66/33 kilovolts (kV) substation was commissioned and energized in September 2025. NamPower put the total investment in the project at 394 million Namibian dollars (about 24 million U.S. dollars).
Speaking at the inauguration, NamPower Managing Director Kahenge Haulofu said the facility marked an important step in modernizing Namibia’s transmission network and improving long-term energy security.
He said rising demand from industrial activity, population growth and mining expansion has increased the need for additional grid capacity in the coastal region.
“Sekelduin is NamPower and Africa’s first digital substation,” Haulofu said. “Built by Africans for Africa, it demonstrates that the continent can design and deliver world-class digital grid infrastructure.”
NamPower said the facility incorporates digital process and station bus systems in line with IEC 61850 standards, enabling improved real-time monitoring, remote operations, fault detection and cyber-secure grid management.
He added that the substation also provides a scalable platform for future artificial intelligence and machine-learning applications, helping prepare Namibia’s electricity network for rising demand and more complex grid operations.
The substation will reinforce supply to the existing Swakopmund and Tamarisk substations, the NamWater South bulk-water supply system serving the Husab Uranium Mine and the Erongo RED 33 kV distribution network. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
