Output will increase by around 20% once a project to modernize the Wanjii small hydropower plant in Kenya is complete in mid 2019, technology group Voith has announced.
The company is replacing the 60+ year old plant's turbines, generators, control technology as well as the electromechanical equipment. Voith said that operator KenGen will also see an improvement in the plant’s energy balance, while the new components will be easier to maintain, as individual components can be replaced, if necessary, with minimal effort.
The 7.4MW plant will be equipping with a remote controlled system, so that electricity generation can be regulated from KenGen headquarters in Nairobi.
The machines in the hydropower plant were originally from Morgan Smith. This company was initially acquired by Allis-Chalmers and subsequently by Voith. This meant Voith had all relevant documentation on hand during the planning of the project, which made it much easier to develop a modernization concept, it said.
