Kraftwerk Guitaru

Kraftwerk Guitaru
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location
Coordinates	0 ° 47 '48 "  S , 37 ° 44' 59"  E Coordinates: 0 ° 47 '48 "  S , 37 ° 44' 59"  E
country	Kenya
place	Counties Embu and Machakos
power plant
owner	Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen)
operator	Tana River Development Authority (TARDA)
technology
Bottleneck performance	225 megawatts
Average height of fall	136 m
Standard work capacity	655 to 977 million kWh / year
Turbines	Francis turbines 2 × 72.5 MW, 1 × 81.5 MW
Others
Website	Kraftwerk Guitaru
was standing	2014

The gitaru dam ( English Gitaru power station ) is a hydropower plant on the border between the counties Embu and Machakos in Kenya . It is located on the longest river in Kenya, the Tana .

The power plant was commissioned in 1978. It is owned by the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) but is operated by the Tana River Development Authority (TARDA).

Barrier structure

The barrier structure consists of a dam with a height of 30 m. The length of the dam crest is 580 m.

The dam has a flood relief with three gates, through which a maximum of 3,500 m³ / s can be discharged. The design flood is 4,500 m³ / s; the probability of this event occurring has been determined to be once in 10,000 years.

Reservoir

At the normal storage target of 924 m (max. 925.5 m at high water) the reservoir holds around 16 million m³ of water.

The water flow of the Tana fluctuates greatly: the average is 94 m³ / s, the maximum is 1,926 m³ / s and the minimum is 17 m³ / s (based on records made since 1947). There are two rainy seasons: the first lasts i. d. R. from April to June, the second from November to December.

power plant

With an installed capacity of 225  MW, the Guitaru power plant is the largest hydropower plant in Kenya . The average annual production fluctuates with the water flow of the Tana: it was 655 million kWh in 2008 and 977 million kWh in 2007.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) estimated the average annual generation before the construction of the power plant at 900 million kWh, although it should be taken into account that the Masinga power plant with its storage lake had not yet been built at that time .

The first two Francis turbines with an output of 72.5 MW were commissioned in 1978, the third with an output of 81.5 MW in 1999. They are located in an underground machine house (L × W × H: 74 × 18 × 32 m).

The maximum height of fall is 136 m.

Others

The IBRD estimated the total cost of the project (including a 275 kV line with a length of 111 km to Nairobi and a 132 kV line with a length of eight kilometers to the Kamburu power station ) in May 1975 at USD 123.578 million .

On July 25, 1975, the IBRD granted the Tana River Development Company Limited a loan of US $ 63 million for the construction of the power plant. The interest rate for this was 8.5%.

The power plant is part of a chain of five hydropower plants on the Tana - Masinga , Kamburu , Guitaru, Kindaruma and Kiambere - which together have an installed capacity of 567 MW. In the 1970s, feasibility studies were carried out for the expansion of hydropower on the Tana, which envisaged a cascade of eleven power plants. But so far only the above five have been implemented.

See also

• List of power plants in Kenya

Web links

• Power Plant Location Map. Kenya Electricity Generating Company , accessed February 7, 2015 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Guitaru Hydroelectric Power Station Kenya. Global Energy Observatory, accessed February 9, 2015 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Report No. 627a-KE Kenya Appraisal of the Guitaru Hydroelectric Project. (PDF 5.6 MB pp. 45–48 (Annex 5 Pages 1–4)) International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), accessed on February 11, 2015 (English). 
3. ↑ GITARU POWER STATION. Kenya Electricity Generating Company , accessed February 9, 2015 . 
4. ↑ IBRD, Report No. 627a-KE, p. 49 (Annex 6)
5. ↑ LOAN AGREEMENT (Guitaru Hydroelectric Project) LOAN NUMBER 1147 KE. (PDF 1.3 MB p. 6 (6)) International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), accessed on February 11, 2015 . 
6. ↑ KAMBURU POWER STATION. Kenya Electricity Generating Company , accessed February 9, 2015 .