The power transmission system of the country’s northern region will have one more substation, in Namialo. The northern reinforcement system project consists in the construction of a new substation in Namialo, in Nampula Province, due to be completed next December. The works are underway and already in the final stage of construction. The installation of the electrical equipment for the substation is currently in progress. In parallel, a construction of an administrative building is also underway and it will also be used as a command office.
Felisberto Uissitomo, Director of Northern Transmission, assured that all the electrical equipment for the installation is onsite, except a transformer which is in transit in South Africa. “The construction of the civil part was successfully completed and we are now in the installation phase of the electrical equipment, such as circuit breakers, sectioning and others”, said Uissitomo, adding that the greatest challenge is to work to ensure the compliance of the deadline set for December 2018.
Supplied from Nampula by two 110 kV lines, the new substation of Namialo (Namialo SE) is of 110/33kV, with a transformer of 40 MVAs. As pointed out by Felisberto Uissitomo, with this undertaking there will be a major gain with regard to the availability and reliability of the power supply. “We will ensure more availability of energy; we will have better working conditions, not only in the industry, but also in the supply of quality energy in general. This substation will feed the neighbouring districts, namely Namialo, Meconta, Monapo, Nacarroa and the Northern Development Corridor (CDN) and alleviate the Monapo substation which is overloaded”.
With the entry in service of the Namialo substation, there will be no deficit in the power supply, characterised by oscillations and power cut, and there is a gain of more stability associated with the fact that the substation is located near the consumption area in this region of Namialo, there is more redundancy which will enable to carry out the maintenance of infra-structures without restricting to the power supply to the final client.
According to our interlocutor, this substation is of greater importance because it will ensure power flow if we take into account that in a near future a 400 kV line will be constructed from Caia to Nacala and interconnected to it, other 220 kV lines to Nacala and Nampula will be constructed as well as of 400kV to Metoro. He added that the same will have a second phase of construction consisting of its extension and installation of more 2 250-MVA transformers each and other two of 125 MVA ensuring in this way a total redundancy and robustness in the entire Northern Transmission System. “All the investment initiatives, both public and private, will be accommodated because we will have availability of energy”, said Uissitomo.
The construction project of the Namialo substation is funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), amounting to 19 million American Dollars in total.
