Kiambere power station

Kiambere power station
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location
Coordinates	0 ° 38 ′ 15 ″  S , 37 ° 54 ′ 21 ″  E Coordinates: 0 ° 38 ′ 15 ″  S , 37 ° 54 ′ 21 ″  E
country	Kenya
place	Counties Embu and Kitui
power plant
owner	Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen)
operator	Tana River Development Authority (TARDA)
Start of operation	1988
technology
Bottleneck performance	168 megawatts
Standard work capacity	621 to 1,010 million kWh / year
Turbines	Francis turbines 2 × 84 MW
Others
Website	Kiambere power station
was standing	2014

The Kiambere Dam ( English Kiambere power station ) is a hydropower plant on the border between the counties Embu and Kitui in Kenya . It is located on the longest river in Kenya, the Tana .

The power plant was put into operation in 1988. 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 two earth embankments: a main dam with a height of 100 (or 110) m and a length of the dam crest of approx. 1 km, as well as another dam with a height of 35 m, which fills a nearby cut in the terrain. The volume of the structure is around 8.5 million m³.

The dam has both a bottom outlet and a flood relief . A maximum of 80 m³ / s can be discharged via the bottom outlet, and a maximum of 50 m³ / s via the flood discharge. The design flood is 5,500 m³ / s; the probability of this event occurring has been determined to be once in 10,000 years.

Reservoir

When the reservoir is fully blocked, it will hold around 585 million m³ of water.

The water flow of the Tana near Kiambere fluctuates: the average is 113 m³ / s (based on records made from 1947 to 1977), the minimum is 37 m³ / s.

power plant

With an installed capacity of 168  MW, the Kiambere power plant is currently (as of Feb. 2015) the second largest hydropower plant in Kenya . The average annual production fluctuates with the water flow of the Tana: in 2008 it was 621 million kWh and in 2003 it was 1,010 million kWh.

The two Francis turbines were commissioned in 1988 (each with an output of 72 MW at the time). From 2007 to 2008 there was an increase in output to 84 MW. They are located in an underground machine house, which is connected to the water inlet at the dam by an approx. 4 km long supply tunnel.

Others

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) estimated the total cost of the project (including a 220 kV 80 km line) in November 1983 at USD 312 million .

On June 28, 1984, the IBRD granted the Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority a loan of USD 95 million for the construction of the power plant. The interest rate for this was 10.08%.

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 599.2 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} Kiambere Hydroelectric Power Station Kenya. Global Energy Observatory, accessed February 19, 2015 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Report No. 4336-KE STAFF APPRAISAL REPORT KENYA KIAMBERE HYDROELECTRIC POWER PROJECT. (PDF 5.2 MB p. 50 (44) (Annex 3 Page 2)) International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), accessed on February 16, 2015 (English). 
3. ↑ ^{a b} IBRD, Report No. 4336-KE, p. 19 (13)
4. ↑ ^{a b} IBRD, Report No. 4336-KE, p. 51 (45) (Annex 3 Page 3)
5. ↑ ^{a b} IBRD, Report No. 4336-KE, p. 49 (43) (Annex 3 Page 1)
6. ↑ IBRD, Report No. 4336-KE, p. 21 (15)
7. ↑ LOAN AGREEMENT (Kiambere Hydroelectric Power Project) LOAN NUMBER 2359 KE. (PDF 1.3 MB pp. 4–5 (3–4)) International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), accessed on February 19, 2015 (English). 
8. ↑ MASINGA POWER STATION. (No longer available online.) Kenya Electricity Generating Company , archived from the original on March 9, 2016 ; accessed on February 19, 2015 (English).