Civicon Limited will do the roads at LTWP for Ksh.3.2 Billion

News just in confirm that Civicon Limited, a lading construction company has won the contract for the construction of access roads in the Lake Turkana Wind Farm and also a roads to the station.

The contract which is worth Ksh. 3.2 Billion will entail the construction of 109km on-site road network at another 204km access road. These roads will be built to gravel standards and should provide the much needed capacity to handle the excruciating weight of the mighty Vestas Wind Turbines that shall be brought to the site.


The project will last 15Months by which the turbines will be ready for mounting.

The Roscoe Wind Farm, US - Largest Wind farm in the World

Fast Facts
Country: US
Locale: Texas
Status: Operational
Comissioning Date: 2009
Construction Cost: 1Billion USD
No of Turbines: 627
Type: Onshore
Capacity: 781.5MW

Owned and operated by E.ON Climate & Renewable, the Rescoe Wind Farm stands tall with 627 turbines with an installed output of 781.5MW. It was constructed in 4phases:

• 1st Phase,   Rescoe         -2008,            209 Mitsubishi 1MW Turbines
• 2nd Phase, Champion - 2008,            55 Siemens 2.3MW Turbines
• 3rd Phase,  Pyron            -Mid 2009,  166 General Electric 1.5MW Turbines
• 4th Phase,  Inadale         -2009,            197Mitubishi 1MW Turbines

This project cost more than 1Billion US Dollars and provides enough power for more than 250,000 Texan homes. Located 320km West of Fort Worth, it covers an area of 400km (sq). The farm is also notable for its nearly 400Land owners.

Ngong Wind Power - Kenya

Installed Capacity: 5.1 Mega Watts

Commisioning Year: 2009

Wind Turbines: 6

Output of each turbine: 850kW

Model: Vestas V52

Main Contractor TPF-Econoler SA (Belgium)

Location:Ngong Hills, 22km SW of capital, Nairobi - Kenya.

Standing tall at a height of 50m from the ground, the wind turbines rotate at the winds pace in a bid to generate Kenya's source of Wind Power.The Ngong Wind Power Project which was commissioned in August 2009, is Kenya's largest Wind Power Station but will come second once the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project (LTWP) is completed.

The 6 Turbines, each with a maximum output of 850kW produce a total of 5.1MW of clean energy into the grid.For the Vestas V52 Model turbines, KenGen executed a contract for the implementation of Ngong Hills Wind Power project with TPF-Econoler SA (TPFE) of Belgium on 29th October 2007.

Kenyan Cabinet approves a 421MW Power Generation Programme

The power shortage in Kenya is set to ease following Tuesday’s move by the Cabinet to approve a major generation programme.

Under the New Planned Power Generation Capacity Programme, six power projects are to be initiated this year.They include:

21MW Songoro Hydropower Project.
10MW Tana Hydropower Project.
5MW Ngong Windpower Project.
80MW Early Geothermal Power Project.
25MW Kindaruma Upgrade.
280MW Olkaria 1 and Olkaria 4.

 “In this regard Cabinet forwards for parliamentary approval the establishment of an escrow guarantee fund for semi-concessional loans for external borrowing by KenGen and Kenya Electricity Transmission Company from EIB and KFW to finance the additional power generation of 421 megawatts,” a statement issued by the Presidential Press Service said.

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

The Xiangjiaba - Shanghai ±800kV UHVDC Transmission Line Project

Recent developments in High Voltage transmission and distribution systems have shown a gradual increase in DC transmission systems at very high voltage levels. High Voltage Direct Current (H.V D.C) has become common in developed countries due to reduced costs at high voltages as compared to Alternating Current (A.C) transmission. It is because of such reasons that the recently completed Xiangjiaba-Shanghai 800kV UHVDC transmission line was built.

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.

Masinga Dam Scare - Dam Failure Possibilities

In the Tana Delta and Garissa, Masinga dam is currently at 1053.6m against a Full Supply Level (FSL) of 1056.5m, according to KRCS. This means that Masinga is only 2.9m to reaching the FSL. The EOC, KenGen and the UoN School of Mathematics will determine the overspill point or neighborhood. Once this is determined and if the rains persist as projected by the KMD, risk reduction measures ahead of the imminent floods are required.

Lake Turkana Wind Power Project - Kenya

PROJECT:     LAKE TURKANA WIND POWER STATION
CAPACITY:     310 MW (2012)
LOCATION:     SOUTHEASTERN END OF LAKE TURKANA
DUE DATE:    JULY 2010 FULL CAPACITY JULY 2010
TURBINE TECHNOLOGY: VESTAS V-52 850 KW WIND TURBINE

Hydroelectric Power Station

This is a generating station which utilizes the potential energy of water at a high level for the generation of electrical energy. It uses the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. They are located in hilly areas where dams can be built and large water reservoirs can be obtained. Hydroelectricity is the most widely used form of renewable energy. Worldwide an installed capacity of 77GWe supplied a total of 2998TWe of hydroelectricity in 2006. This was approximately 20% of the world's electricity and accounted for about 88% of electricity from renewable sources...

Electric Power Supply Systems

Supply Systems

The convergence of electric power from a Power Station to consumer’s premises is known as Electric Supply Systems.

This post illustrates the basic movement of power from the alternators at the generating station to your home/premises. I have omitted the complicated processes because its meant to give Non-Engineers a glimpse of how power is transmitted.

Generating Station

3-Phase alternators in parallel - The common generation is normally 11kV or 33kV (For advanced countries).

For economical reasons power is stepped up to 132kV or even more depending upon length of transmission lines and amount of power to be transmitted. It is stepped up to 132kV with the help of 3-phase transformers.

The transmission of power at high voltages has several advantages including saving conductor material and high transmission efficiency...