NamPower ( SWAWEK) actually started at VAN ECK POWER STATION. When it was built in the early seventies the first power was distributed from this Power Station and all distribution lines were connected to the 66 and 220 kV High Voltage Yards.

Van Eck is situated in the Northern Industrial area of Windhoek easy recognisable with it’s two 103 meters high smokestacks or chimneys. It’s 1 615 meters above sea level with an atmospheric pressure of 825 mbar. The first two Units were commissioned in 1972, the third in 1973 and the fourth in 1979.

Van Eck was the first Power Station to implement the dry cooling method in Southern Africa (Fans forcing air through radiators cool the Steam.) There is only one more Power Station in Southern Africa that uses this method of cooling. 

How does the power station work ?

Coal is fed into the Boiler by means of coal feeders which spray the coal onto the grate (Moving Floor) which moves forward at a set speed. The coal is then burnt in the boiler to produce heat to heat the water in the boiler tubes which in turn is fed in to the Turbine through two stages (High Pressure  & Low Pressure) turning the turbine which in turn turns the Generator