The Proposed Umeme 1 High Voltage Substation

For a long time I have always wanted to Design, Construct and Commission my own substation so that I can understand to the detail what exactly works in there. Its very rare that a power company or distributor will just allow anyone to access a substation so I came up with the idea of Umeme 1.

Umeme 1 is a virtual substation that will exist only in CAD drawings and here on my blog. I will follow strictly all laid down regulations that guide power engineers to come up with a working substation. On th good side, I will promptly upload the documents like the ESIA, EIA and even testing documents for earthing and grounding.

This project will take up to 2 years or so depending on my research speed after which I plan to compact all documents to publish my findings. The substation will be called UMEME which is a swahili word for electricity and will be located along the Nairobi - Naivasha highway. Feel free to comment and correct me in case you stumble on an error or miscalculation for sag etc.

So there it is, the start of a long project. In this course I hope I will inspire another Power Engineer somewhere to do something out of the ordinary that will change the way to transmit electricity.

Image Credits: http://www.pike.com

Electric Outdoor Substation Model Project

Earlier in the year I mentioned that I would embark on a year long project to understand the inner workings on an outdoor electric substation. So here I start after taking some time off to study my Chinese - which in fact has improved.

Now this project will basicaly entail creating a model of each unit that is in a subsytation, link them using wires and perhaps use 240V to simulate the working. To add some salt, I will embeed my ArduinoUNO + Raspberry Pi and a few LEDs to make a SCADA system hopefully controlled from my PC or my phone to shutdown/on the sub-station.
Yeah, I know this sounds crazy but it will require funds plus careful planning and drawings to ascertain the project. I will document everything like it would be in a real life project including the Tendering and delivery of the equipment - all this for learning.

Also I noted that there are specific softwares that are used to design substations, so I hope they have 90 Days trials, this will come in handy.

My Chinese exams are in May (HSK) so incase my english starts to depeceiate significantly, kindly notify me :-) :-)

Here in my country Kenya we are going to the polls on 4th of March so hope there will be peace and no violence, am praying very hard for peace.

Anyway let me start...Have an electrifying week + Peace to all Kenyans

Image Credits: Buildpedia.com

Kengen to shut down Emergency Power Generators

The Kenya Electricity Generating Company, KenGen: Kenya's largest power producer is ready to switch off Emergency Power Generators. These power generators were commissioned last year (2009) during the period of acute shortage in power caused by low rainfall and low water levels in the hydroelectric dams.

The Emergency Power Generators which produce 150MWinto the grid, produce power from Diesel fuel resulting in the high electricity costs for Kenyans. The Power Relief cost the government 1.7Billion Ksh and have been running since the commissioning.

The expected switch off of these fuel guzzlers will take place on 6th January 2010.This will mean less power bills in the coming future as the government calls investors to explore the rich energy potential of Kenya. On the other hand, The Kenya Power & Lighting Company, KPLC - The Largest distributor of power, said consumers have been pointing a finger on them blaming them of huge power bills. KPLC has reassured its customers that they have to charge a higher Fuel Levy because of the Emergency Power generators.

A recent survey of the power in Kenya shows that the countries over-reliance of Hydro Power has seen massive shortage of power once the rains falls. It is because of this that Ken Gen has embarked of an expansion of its Geothermal Power at Olkaria, Naivasha.

KPLC opts for Non-Oil based transformers

The Kenya Power & Lighting Company (KPLC) , Kenya's largest power transmission and distribution company, has embarked on an initiative to replace its transformers with non-oil based types. This is in response to rampant vandalism of its convectional transformers.KPLC has ordered for 100 dry type transformers which are to be installed in Kiambu, Nyeri, Thika, Dagoretti Corner, Ruiru, Gatundu, Limuru and Kitengela towns which are prone to transformer theft.

The Reality

According to the firm's Operations and Maintenance manager, KPLC faces losses of  up to Ksh.600 Million per year and economy losses of Ksh.2 Billion.These vandalism cases are mainly transformer oil theft but in recent times they have involved to the entire unit itself! I must say that the thieves have upgraded their business indeed.How the thieves manage to offload the 200kg unit form the poles remains a mystery to me.It would require a crane to do the tedious job.

Community Power Centers (CPC) : UNIDO

United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in partnership with other stakeholders has been working on a project of lighting up Kenya using electricity generated from renewable sources. The energy generated is taken to a village power center that acts as a community development center.Once electricity is at the center, it is used for different applications. Presently, unto 2Billion people lack access to modern energy mainly those living in of-grid areas.

The Community Power Centers Project
The community power project is a source of energy powered by zero-emission hybrid renewable energy sources such as:
 Micro-hydro, Mini-hydro
 Bio-gas

Stadium Power Supplies - FIFA World Cup 2010

Given the national and international exposure that each stadium in the FIFA World Cup 2010 receives, it is imperative that all efforts are made to ensure that electrical power supply in the venues is as reliable as possible. In this post according to “22nd AMEU Technical Convention110 AMEU Proceedings 2009 Stadium electricity supplies – an assessment of the specification and readiness” document I have outlined the various power aspects involved in Stadium Power Supplies.





The stadia and surrounding areas are fundamentally broken down into three
Main focus areas include:
1. Domestic/stadium power (stadium itself)
2. Technical Power (Media & Broadcasting)
3. Overlay or precinct (area immediately surround the stadium including ticketing offices, hospitality, Accreditation etc)

Extra High Voltage Systems - 400kV Lines

Nominal Voltage                      400kV
Cicuits per phase                     1
Sub-conductors per phase        2
Span                                      400m
Conductor Name and Size       Moose,54/3.53mm Alluminium  7/3.53mm Steel
Sub-conductor Diameter          3.177cm
Bundle Configuration                Horizontal
Bundle Spacing                       450mm
Interphase Spacing                   11m
Condutor Configuration            Horizontal
Resistance per phase per km at 20degrees 0.0274Ohm
Inductive Reactance per phase per km              0.3321Ohm
Shunt Admittance per phase per km                  3.2983*10-6
Surge Impedance                    282Ohm
Surge Impedance Loading        505MW
Current Carying capacity at 40degrees ambient temperature 900A
Ground Wire                           2Number,7/3.66mm Galvanised Steel
Ground wire height at tower                30.4m
Tower height                           30.4m
Conductor Height at tower           20.75m
Conductor sag at 0degrees           8.39m
Ground wire sag at 0degrees               6.654m
Shielding angle                           10degrees
Suspension string                   23dics,225*145mm
Impulse Flashover voltage                   1550kV

Examples:Sultanpur-Lucknow Line, Obra-kanput Line, Kanpur-Maradnagar Line.

50kVA PMTx Substation Transformer

Name : 50kVA Pole Mounted Substation Transformer
Rating: 50kVA
Cooling: Oil Cooled
Application: Commercial,Heavy Residential,Farmhold

This  type of transformer is mainly used for Step-Down purposes of voltages in the range of 11kV~415/240V.