Ruacana, site of an important hydroelectric-power station and a diversion dam directly above the Ruacana Falls, on the Kunene River at the border between Angola and Namibia. The Ruacana Dam and power station, together with the Calueque Dam (completed in 1976) 25 miles (40 km) farther upriver in Angola, are designed to provide irrigation water for southern Angola and the Owambo region of northern Namibia as well as to provide electricity for most of Namibia.
The construction of the Ruacana project, based on a 1969 agreement between South Africa and the then Portuguese government of Angola, was begun by South Africa in 1973. In the late 1970s, its completion was repeatedly halted by the government of recently independent Angola, which denied South African engineers access to the north bank of the river. Although the power station was not operating at full capacity by the 1980s, it did provide most of the hydroelectric demand for Namibia. In the 1980s the transmission of electrical power was intermittently disrupted by members of the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) who were protesting South African influence. The power station continued to operate, though far below its capacity, in the 1990s.