KivuWatt power plant
| KivuWatt power plant | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| location | |||
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| Coordinates | 2 ° 3 '15 " S , 29 ° 21' 12" O | ||
| country |
 Rwanda
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| Data | |||
| Type | Gas engine | ||
| Primary energy | Fossil energy | ||
| fuel | methane | ||
| power | 25 MW | ||
| owner | ContourGlobal | ||
| operator | ContourGlobal | ||
| Start of operations | 2015 | ||
The KivuWatt Power Plant is a gas engine power plant in Kibuye , Karongi District , Western Province , Rwanda , which is located near Lake Kivu . It is owned by ContourGlobal and operated by ContourGlobal. The power plant was officially opened on May 16, 2016 by the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame .
history
In July 2002, Rwanda signed a memorandum of understanding with Dane Associates to build a power plant. This contract was canceled by Rwanda in 2007; instead, a contract was signed with ContourGlobal in 2009 , which provided for the construction of a gas extraction plant and a power plant (contract value USD 325 million ). Construction of the gas extraction plant began in August 2011. The gas extraction system and the power plant went into trial operation in November (and December) 2015.
Gas extraction
Lake Kivu , a meromictic body of water , has very high concentrations of dissolved gases (mainly carbon dioxide and methane ) in its deep water . It is assumed that 300 billion m³ CO 2 and 60 billion m³ CH 4 are dissolved in the lake . Since the outgassing of Lake Kivu is likely to be comparable to that of Lake Nyos and in order to use the methane contained in the lake to generate electricity, a gas extraction system was built on the lake.
The gas extraction plant is located on a platform that is anchored to the bottom of the lake about 13 km from the shore. In the gas extraction system, the gas-saturated water is first brought up through four plastic pipes with the help of an auto-siphon pump from a depth of 355 m. The gas dissolves from the water at a depth of 170 (or 240) m. The gas is largely separated from the deep water in four separators located 20 m below the platform. In subsequent process steps, the unwanted CO 2 and hydrogen sulfide are removed, whereby the methane content in the gas increases to 85 (or 90)%; the cleaned gas is then transported to the power station by means of a pipeline suspended from buoys at a depth of 10 m. In this way, 5500 m³ of purified gas are pumped to the power plant per hour. The deep water is then returned to a depth of 240 m.
power plant
The power plant currently (as of February 2019) consists of a total of 3 type 34SG gas engines, each with 20 cylinders from the manufacturer Wärtsilä , which together provide a maximum output of 25 (or 26) MW . It is planned to commission a further 9 gas engines with a total output of 75 MW. The power plant serves to cover the base load . Since the methane content in the gas fluctuates, the gas engines had to be adapted. The power plant will sell the electricity it generates to the state-owned electricity supplier Rwanda Energy Group for less than 15 cents per kWh . The price per kWh for companies in Rwanda was an average of 24 cents (as of April 2015).
Others
The total cost of the project (gas extraction plant and power plant) is given as 200 (or 220) million USD .
See also
Web links
- KivuWatt. ContourGlobal , accessed January 26, 2019 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kagame launches Kivu-Watt power plan. The New Times , May 16, 2016, accessed January 26, 2019 .
- ↑ KivuWatt energy finally connected to the national grid. The New Times, November 17, 2015, accessed February 22, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g The Gamble to Produce Power from a 'Killer' Lake. www.powermag.com, January 10, 2018, accessed on January 26, 2019 (English).
- ↑ a b KivuWatt Project, Lake Kivu, Kibuye. www.power-technology.com, accessed on January 26, 2019 (English).
- ↑ a b c Lake Kivu's Great Gas Gamble. MIT Technology Review, April 16, 2015, accessed February 22, 2019 .
- ↑ Innovative Technologies. ContourGlobal , accessed January 26, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c Engines Plant in Rwanda. ContourGlobal, accessed February 2, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c d e Pearly Time Bomb. VDI nachrichten , March 22, 2018, accessed on February 22, 2019 .
- ↑ a b KivuWatt Project Phase I. Rwanda Energy Group (REG), accessed on January 26, 2019 (English).
- ↑ Killer lake's renewable potential. Wärtsilä , November 17, 2016, accessed on February 22, 2019 .