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

Specifications

Coal Fired Power Station	120 MW
Date Commissioned:	1972 Unit 1&2 1973 Unit 3 1979 Unit 4
Capacity:	4 x 30 MW
Generator Type:	Brown Boveri Orsal
	11.000 Volts 1852 Amp 50 Hz 3000 RPM
Boilers 1/2/3:	Yarrow Africa
Boiler 4:	Babcock & Wilcox
Coal Used per Mw/h Generated	650 kg 0.65 kg/kWh
Water Used per Mw/h Generated	290 ltrs 0.29 ltrs/kWh
Steam Generated per sec	37.79kg/sec 136.1 Tonnes/hr
Amount of steam needed to generate 1 Mw/h	4.533 Tonnes