Renewable energy to solve Africa's power crisis

 
Renewable energy has taken a hit globally, but the UAE's Masdar Energy went against the grain by inaugurating a 15-megawatt solar photovoltaic facility in the West African state of Mauritania - the largest project of its kind in Africa.

The USD 32 million project will account for 10% of Mauritania's energy capacity and displace 21,255 tons of carbon dioxide, according to the company.

"Energy access is a pathway to economic and social opportunity," said Mauritania's president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz during the inauguration of the solar plant. 

"Electrification, through sustainable sources of energy, is critical in ensuring our people have access to basic services and is a step toward improving our infrastructure and long-term economic development. We are pleased to have partnered with Masdar to successfully deliver Africa's largest solar PV plant and an important facility to meet Mauritania's growing energy needs."

The Masdar initiative will make a small dent in Africa's massive electricity problem, but it is a welcome start.

Electricity use per capita (kw/h) in the west, east and central parts of Africa stands at 160 kilowatt, compared to 1,410 in North Africa and 4,810 kw/h in southern Africa, according to the International Renewable Energy Association (IRENA).

About 590 million people in Africa - or 57% of the population -- has no access to electricity, and that figure is expected to rise to 655 million, if current trends persist.

This is a major hurdle, as without access to electricity, Africans are deprived of basic services such as healthcare, communications and education.

In places like the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo, electricity has led to annual sale losses of more than 20%.

Experts tip region on energy saving

East African countries have been urged to act fast in adopting energy conservation measures and renewable energy in buildings.

The workshop is aimed at changing the mindset of many Rwandans on energy consumption in buildings. The New Times/ Timothy Kisambira.

The appeal was made, yesterday, during an ongoing workshop in Kigali organised to discuss and adopt energy efficiency measures that can be integrated into building policies all over East Africa.

The workshop, which closes tomorrow, is organised by the UN-Habitat in collaboration with the Rwandan government with support from the World Bank.

It is partly in response to reports by the Green Building Council in Africa, indicating that the buildings alone consumes 54 per cent of energy supply on the continent, and this energy is used only in cooking, lighting, cooling, heating, communication.

The participants were drawn from  five East Africa partner states of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzaniaand Ugand  as well as West Africa, Asia, North America, Europe and Arab states.

According to a UN-Habitat representative, Dr. Vincent Kitio, there is an urgent need to adopt energy efficiency measures into building policies in the region.

“This will reduce energy demand in buildings and will ultimately reduce electricity bills. The workshop also aims at promoting resource efficiency such as efficient use of water resources, optimal use of land, better use of locally available materials, energy conservation and adoption of renewable energy technologies in building through innovative solutions,” Kitio said.

Vestas, GE Lead Wind-Turbine Market as U.S. Installations Surge

General Electric Co. (GE) tied with Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS) as the biggest turbine maker with less than 50 megawatts between them, unsettling the Danish maker’s 12-year hold on the title, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said.

GE, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, and Vestas each supplied about 5.7 gigawatts of turbines in 2012, according to the London-based researcher. Siemens AG (SIE) was third, Enercon GmbH fourth and Suzlon Energy Ltd. (SUEL) of India fifth.

A tax incentive drove a record 13.6 gigawatts of installations in the U.S., where GE commissioned 96 percent of its turbines and Vestas sold 40 percent, its biggest market. Installations are set to plunge to 2.8 gigawatts this year after the subsidy expired Dec. 31, the researcher said.

“2012 was a great year for western manufacturers in terms of adding new capacity, particularly those with large exposure to the U.S. market,” said Justin Wu, head of wind analysis at BNEF. “Unfortunately, this boom was largely based on beating the deadline on an expiring subsidy and not on sustainable growth. As such, 2013 will look very different.”

Globally, a record 48.4 gigawatts of new wind was added in 2012, BNEF said. China Guodian Corp. overtook Iberdrola SA (IBE) as the largest wind owner with 13.7 gigawatts installed at the end of 2012. Its lead is likely to extend as build-out in China continues, it said. BNEF expects Chinese owners to gain market share as domestic grid constraints ease and they seek overseas expansion, while U.S. and European installations fall.

Power plant lights up Uganda’s future

AN AERIAL VIEW OF BUJAGALI

THE CONTROVERSIALBujagali hydropower station in Uganda has been commissioned and is now on the grid. It loads an additional 250 MW on the national grid effectively doubling the power generationcapacity in the country. 

This development is a sigh of relief for Ugandans in several ways:  it eliminates expensive thermal power; It releases some US$9.5 million in electricity subsidies to the exchequer;  it eliminates load shedding and brightens prospects for economic growth.

 For Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, who launched the dam, it was a vindication that tenacity pays. He had the last laugh over opposition to the project!

The project Uganda was dogged by controversy, some of it crass.  Mooted in 1990s, Bujagali immediately faced all sorts of opposition from donors and their cohorts in the civil society sector-that at a time when the country experienced 12 hour loading shedding due to drought.

Ultra-Efficient Bladeless Wind Turbine Inspired by Nikolai Tesla.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/Solar-Aero-Research/Wind-Turbine/prweb2688434.htm
http://solaraero.org/
Solar Aero Research , a New Hampshire non-profit alternative energy research corporation, unveiled the proof-of-concept prototype of its revolutionary wind turbine.
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Solar Oven Makes Clean Drinking Water from Salt Water

Solar Oven Makes Clean Drinking Water from Salt Water

- Developed by an Italian graduate student, Gabrielle Diamant.
- The oven can make about 5 liters of fresh water a day.

Interested: Contact us

Wind Power Engineering

It's not much to look at, but this 500W fuel cell can power remote sensors such as sodars and lidars, and runs a month on a tank of propane. In fact, it's more efficient at higher power outputs.

http://www.windpowerengineering.com/policy/environmental/fuel-cell-powers-remote-sensors/

Toyota bids for Juba-Lamu Oil Pipeline

An oil pipeline: Bid in place for Africa's largest PPP project

TOYOTA TSUSHO, the investment arm of Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan, has bid for the construction of the US$3 billion, Juba-Lamu oil Pipeline. The pipeline will initially transport some 700,000 to one million barrels per day (bpd) of Sudanese crude to the Lamu Port in Kenya which is under construction. Eventually it is expected to transport crude from Kenya and Uganda to the Lamu port for export.

Apart from the 2000Km Pipeline, the bid also includes the construction “of an oil refinery, power stations, jetties and other infrastructure facilities” said Dennis Awori, Chairman-Toyota Kenya Ltd.

The bid, if successful, will be the largest PPP project in Africa. In a statement released this week, the company said it has proposed to develop the Pipeline on a Built-Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis on a 20 year concession.

The company is still doing a feasibility study of the project whose construction is expected to begin in June 2013. The construction is expected to last 18 months to the end of 2014.South Sudan expects to turn the tabs through Kenya come 2015. However, some analysts say that a project of this magnitude lasts three –years citing logistical and security concerns in the general area on which the pipeline is to be constructed.

Lamu-Juba Railway line: Next   in line 

Toyota Tsusho has also announced that the project could be expanded to include a pipeline to Uganda and another to Djibouti through Ethiopia. This would raise the cost of the entire project to US$5 billion. The proposal is apparently based on non-binding MOUs signed between South Sudan and Ethiopia to construct a pipeline to Djibouti through Ethiopia. South Sudan has already signed an agreement with Kenya for the construction of the 2000KM pipeline through Kenya to the Lamu Port.

Birth of Kenya's Konza Techno City is in October

Proposed Konza Technocity: Attracting serious investors

THE GROUND BREAKING CEREMONY  for Kenya’s Konza Techno City will be held in October this year, we can report.  This will pave the way for construction work on the US$7 billion project to begin.

It is expected that, after the ground breaking ceremony, work on roads, water and waste water disposal systems will be the first off the blocks. Already a Chinese government owned Construction Company, Shanghai Corporation for Foreign Economic & Technological Cooperation (SFECO) is eyeing construction of roads and other social infrastructure.

  The government is constructing a US$200 million multipurpose water dam expected to be complete by October 2013. The dam will pump one million litres of water to the city.

The proposed city has generated a lot of interest among both investors and developers a like hastening the pace of implementation. Reports have it that some 200 investors are eyeing space in the metropolis, dubbed Africa’s silicon Savannah.

Such fast pace at which the building blocks of the city’s development is being put in place has critics confounded.  In just about one month, several contractors are in place. The Master Planner, HR & A Advisors of New York is already in Place.  A Swedish government firm has bagged the tender to develop the science park and market the project among investors.

The BPO park

Also on the queue for various segments of the project are other experienced developers such as Egypt’s Smart Villages and the Korea Business Centre. The intense interest in the project is not surprising, returns on investment are mouth-watering. Return on leasing ranges between 12 and 15 per cent while capital gains rate is estimated at 20 per cent.

Konza City located only 60 KM south west of Nairobi aims to catapult Kenya into an ICT giant by 2030. It will place Kenya firmly on the competition seat with such global BPO, KPO and ITO giants as India and China. Dubbed the  silicon Savannah of Africa, Konza ICT City is a green field project that will be home of Africa's Computerisation drive–something similar to Silicon Valley in the US.

Energy giants Statoil and Exxon target East African gas

The balmy waters of the Indian Ocean, close to East Africa, are a long way from the cold and notoriously stormy North Sea, but Tanzania could soon be profitable territory for Statoil of Norway.

Statoil and its American partner Exxon Mobil have made the biggest offshore discovery yet of gas reserves off the coast of Tanzania.

The Zafarani field, which both companies hope will be bigger than first estimates suggest, is close to the region off the coast of Mozambique, where even bigger deposits of gas are being developed by Anadarko and ENI.

"This is the biggest discovery made outside Norway by Statoil ever," a delighted Statoil vice president, Tim Dodson, tells the BBC.

But beyond the impact on Statoil itself, Mr Dodson recognises how the discovery could transform the fortunes of an East African country that has in the past focused more on safari tourism than oil and gas.

"This is [also] the biggest discovery that has been made offshore Tanzania and in that respect it's extremely important for [both] Statoil and Tanzania," he says.

EAST AFRICAN WIND ENERGY

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EAWEL brings state of the art technology for renewable energy and energy efficiency in order to ease the burden on the Environment.

East African Wind Energy Ltd promises to deliver paramount services and technology to the East African Renewable Energy Sector. Our location and technologies will in no doubt spearhead Kenya as the leaders in this sector within our region..

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At long last east Africa is beginning to realise its energy potential

IN ENERGY terms, east Africa has long been the continent's poor cousin. Until last year it was thought to have no more than 6 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, compared with 60 billion in west Africa and even more in the north. Since a third of the region's imports are oil-related, it has been especially vulnerable to oil shocks. The World Bank says that, after poor governance, high energy costs are the biggest drag on east Africa's economy.

All that may be about to change. Kenya, the region's biggest economy, was sent into delirium on March 26th by the announcement of a big oil strike in its wild north. A British oil firm, Tullow, now compares prospects in the Turkana region and across the border in Ethiopia to Britain's bonanza from the North Sea. More wells will now be drilled across Kenya, which also holds out hopes for offshore exploration blocs.

Olkaria II Geothermal Energy Project, Kenya

 

Sinclair Knight Merz was awarded an overall consultancy contract in 1998 as owner’s engineer and project manager for the Olkaria II Geothermal Power Project in Kenya. This involved engineering design and supervision support on five major contracts - power plant, steam field engineering, site civil works, switchyards and transmission lines. 

The Olkaria geothermal field is located in Kenya’s Rift Valley about 120 kilometres from Nairobi.  The first power plant, Olkaria I, was commissioned between 1981 and 1985, with3 x 15MW machines.  Planning for Olkaria II’s 2 x 35MW generators commenced about the same time, with most of the concept design carried out by the early 1990's, and all the wells drilled by 1993.

In the initial phase of the Project, design reviews recommended several important technical changes, with the cost being justified by use of through-life value analysis techniques. These included changing the turbine hall structure from concrete to steel, and the incorporation of more modern building materials.  Plant changes included the use of modern canned pumps in lieu of barometric sealing pits, and a change to the type of cooling tower, with this particular item resulting in a significant cost saving to the Client in terms of both the capital cost of the cooling tower and the civil works associated with a smaller footprint.

During the Review of the Steamfield, SKM identified a number of other design changes that added value to the Project.  These included:

• Revisions to the steamfield pressure control system and the addition of brine loop seals to avoid brine flashing and carry-over of solids to the turbine 
• Revision of the well-pad layout to provide adequate access for separation plant operation, along with space for maintenance and well work-overs.

For further information, contact: Sinclair Knight Merz

Kenya to concession geothermal power generation

A geothermal Plant at Ol Karia in kenya

KENYA, AFRICA'S geothermal power giant, has changed its business plan in order to speed up geothermal power generation. The new plan involved separating the drilling function from the generation function. Drilling will remain in the hands of the government, while the private sector will be invited to generating power from the steam wells, through the concession mode of PPP.

 The new plan is working well and is expected to add an additional 400MW into the national grid come July 2016.  The company that was created to take over the drilling function, the Geothermal Development Corporation, GDC, a wholly government owned enterprise, plans to develop some 3000MW by 2020 and then on 5500MW in 2031, an appraisal report seen by this publication.

GDC’s role is to develop the steam wells and install the wellheads and then concession the developed wells to power producers who shall build generating stations. Previously both the drilling and the power generating functions were rolled into one. This made it impossible to attract the private sector into the geothermal power sub-sector.

The model will start at the Menengai Geothermal development Project whose first phase is currently under development. It will produce some 400MW-an estimated 26 per cent of the current national supply, by 2016 at a cost of US$502 million. The Kenya government will pick the Lion’s share of this tab at US$245 million. African Development Bank is second with a significant US$147 million while the rest will be funded by other donors including AFD, the French international co-operation agency and the European investment bank.

Kenya to host Konza technocity's investors conference

The technology Park will be a prominent feature in the city

 THE KENYA GOVERNMENT  will host the first Konza city investors conference in August. The event will bring together 500 local and international investors in a three- day conference to discuss among others, the financing models of the city. Also to be discussed will be best practice cases.

Konza Techno City aims to catapult Kenya into an ICT giant by 2030. It will place Kenya firmly on the competition seat with such global BPO, KPO and ITO giants as India and China. Dubbed the  silicon Savannah of Africa, Konza ICT City is a green field project that will be home of Africa's Computerisation drive–something similar to Silicon Valley in the US.

The CBD: an impressive Skyline in the Middle of Savannah

 The 20-year project will be developed in four five-year phases for a total estimated cost of US$7 billion. The first phase will cost an estimated US$2.3 billion of which infrastructure will cost US$1 billion. The rest will be spent on the development broken under: the ICT Park US$200 million, Residential US$975 million and the Central Business District will cost US$125 million. Each phase will last five years.

The second phase will cost an estimated US$1.7 billion of which infrastructure will cost $400million; the residential area will cost US$850 million while the CBD will cost another $100 million while the BPO will take another $300 million. The university, which shall be built at this stage, will cost some $50 million.

The third phase will cost an estimated $2.1 billion of which infrastructure will consume $600 million. The BPO will cost another $400million, CBD $300 million, Science Park $100Million and Residential $700 million.

In the final phase, BPO will cost $450 million, residential $250 million, Science park $100million while infrastructure will cost $150 million, says an analysis posted on their website, www.konzacity.co.ke. At the end of it all, infrastructure will swallow an estimated $2.1 billion while other developed will cost some $4.8 billion.