Power producer KenGen is moving to raise the
Masinga hydroelectric dam’s wall and install equipment that will pump
downstream water back to the dam to ensure a steady supply of the cheap
power it produces throughout the year.
KenGen announced
the plans after it sealed a financing deal with French Development
Agency (AFD), which is funding the project as part of a wider plan to
increase the capacity of Kenya’s hydropower plants to produce more
electricity throughout the year.
“We plan to raise the Masinga dam wall by two metres,” KenGen managing director Rebecca Miano said.
The
power producer said the French agency had handpicked French company EDF
Group to conduct a feasibility study that would guide the developers on
the upgrade of key dams.
The study will cost Sh21 million (€169,000) and will take seven months, paving the way for actual works to begin.
Masinga
dam, located on the border of Machakos and Embu, is the prime water
reservoir for Kenya’s main hydropower circuit, the Seven Forks
hydropower complex on Tana River and has a series of major hydroelectric
power plants.
Mrs Miano said the wall extension would
enable the dam store more water during heavy rains and ensure a steady
output of hydropower even during prolonged drought. Hydropower remains
Kenya’s cheapest source of electricity.
Heavy
rains occasionally cause the dam, standing at a height of 60 metres, to
overflow when the water hits the maximum level, leading to loss of over
100 million litres, a resource the raised wall will conserve.
This
is the third bid that KenGen is making to raise the Masinga dam wall,
after the previous attempts were suspended over its economic viability.
Cost
of the project stood at Sh1.5 billion ($15 million) when it was last
suspended in 2013 when it was due for a raise by 1.5 metres. The revised
two metres extension is set to cost more.
During dry
spells, water levels in Kenya’s hydroelectric dams often plummet, as is
currently the case, cutting hydropower output and triggering an increase
in the use of expensive diesel-generated electricity as an alternative.
This often raises power bills for homes and
businesses since the available hydroelectric energy, relatively cheaper,
is not sufficient and only meets about half of the economy’s power
needs.
KenGen,
listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and 70 per cent owned
by the government, is also moving to adopt pumped storage hydropower,
the first in East Africa.
Under the plan, widely
practised in the United States and Europe, the stored water is pumped in
a cycle between dams, during nighttime and weekends when electricity
demand is rock-bottom, with one dam located below the other.
During
peak demand, the stored water is released through turbines, flowing
downhill from the upper reservoir into the lower -- generating
electricity.
This arrangement is expected to work well
at the Seven Forks cascade, since Masinga, the first of dam in the
cascade, sits on a higher ground.
KenGen’s
Forks Hydro stations on Tana River include Masinga power station (40
megawatts), Kamburu (94 megawatts), Gitaru (225 megawatts), Kindaruma
(72 megawatts) and Kiambere (168 megawatts).
Previous
failed attempts to raise the Masinga wall was also due to a revenue
dispute between KenGen and Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority
(Tarda), which owns the dam. KenGen owns the power generating equipment
at Masinga and pays fees to the local authority for use of the dam’s
infrastructure.
KenGen first attempted to raise Masinga
dam’s full supply level in the 1990s when it hired consultancy firm
Knight Piesold to conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA) study
for the project.
No comments :
Post a Comment