NamPower has announced the successful commissioning of its new 132/66/33 kV Sekelduin substation located east of Swakopmund. The N$394 million (R394 million) project marks the first fully digital electrical substation on the African continent – designed and built by African engineers and contractors, the utility says.
Built in partnership with SCE Consulting Engineers, TDx Power and Nexus Building Contractors, the facility’s high-voltage equipment is housed indoors to withstand the corrosive coastal environment.
According to NamPower, Sekelduin is Namibia’s first substation to employ process-bus applications in line with IEC 61850 standards, enabling a transition from traditional copper cabling to fibre-optic digital signal transmission. The architecture integrates mixed technology switchgear and metal-enclosed GIS at 33 kV, supplied and integrated by ACTOM.
The substation is fed from the Kuiseb Substation, approximately 35 km south-east, via two parallel 132 kV lines, an arrangement that enhances N-1 redundancy and reduces single-contingency exposure on the coastal transmission corridor.
The digital architecture reduces copper runs, allows real-time remote asset monitoring, improves fault-location accuracy and enables cyber-secure SCADA integration, the utility says. The system’s hybrid configuration combines digital and conventional protection systems using IEC 61850-9-2LE, employing sampled values and GOOSE messaging through redundant process and station buses.
The design also supports future AI and machine-learning applications in grid management, setting a new benchmark for operational resilience in Southern Africa, NamPower says.
