Ethiopia-Ashegoda to Include Larger Turbines

Ethiopia-7/4/2011 Wind farm project to use 1.67MW turbines in second, third phases, up from original plan of onemegawatt turbines
The contract design of the Ashegoda Wind Farm Project has been altered to include turbines generating more power in the second and third phases; the original plan was for 90 turbines to generate 90MW but now 54 turbines each generating 1.67MW will be used instead.The farm, located about 760km north of Addis Abeba in Tigray Regional State, is set to have a total electricity generation capacity of 120MW. The 30MW to be generated in the first phase will still be attained through the 30 wind turbines. However, only one wind turbine has been installed with the others in the process of being installed. While the initial date for the completion of the first phase was set for February 2011, it has now moved to September 2011.“The first phase of the project was delayed due to contract mobilisation issues,” Fisseha Gebremichael, project manager for wind projects at the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo), told Fortune. “The surveying, geotechnical, and design works also took longer than anticipated. In addition, Lahmeyer, the French consultant, failed to provide a product quality certificate.”The decision to increase the generation capacity of the turbines to be used in the later stages was made to conserve time, according to the project manager. The company is still on track to finish within the initial planned timeframe, he claimed.“The second and third phase each consisting of 45 MW is scheduled in the original contract to be completed within 10 months of each other but due to the contract amendment they could be finished sooner, Fisseha told Fortune. one megawatt turbines are 70 metres high with the diameter of the rotor blade 62 metres long. The 1.67MW are expected to be 80 metres long with the rotor blades’ diameter at 74 metres. The turnkey project of the farm (from the design to the commissioning) is being done by Vergnet SA, a French company, at 294 million dollars. Construction commenced in October 2009, after the project obtained a loan from the French Development Agency (AFD) for 69.8pc of the total projected cost. BNP-Paribas, syndicated with Societe General and CIC Bank, all of which are French banks, loaned 21.4pc and the EEPCo contributed the remaining almost nine per cent.The AFD loan is a soft loan to be paid over five years while the BNP-Paribas commercial loans are to be repaid in 11 years and 15 years. The feasibility study for the wind farm was initially done in 2006 by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), formerly GTZ, which is acting as an engineering advisor on the project. While electromechanical work is being done with machines imported from Europe, the civil work contractors are local firms. The first phase of civil construction work is being done by Rama General Contractor, while Hydro Plc is doing drilling work and Sitec Ethiopia is doing electromechanical work. Sigma Electric is constructing the high voltage (HV) substation to connect with the Mekelle–Alamata power transmission line to enter the national grid.“Since this is the first wind farm project of its kind in Ethiopia, local input is lower,” Fisseha said. “Future technological transfer and capacity building of local staff in these projects will cause subsequent wind projects to use predominantly local input.”Aside from Ashegoda, the government plans to construct another six wind farms over the five-year period of its GTP. Of these, Ayisha Wind Farm with a generation capacity of 300MW is the largest, with Debre Berhan Wind Farm and Asela Wind Farm each generating 100MW. The projects include Adama I Wind Farm and Adama II Wind Farm with a generation capacity of 51MW and 150MW, respectively, as well as Messebo/Harena Wind Farm with the capacity to generate 51MW.Wind power, although a bit more expensive than hydro power, can complement the power from dam reservoirs which thin out after the rainy season and winds begin to pick up at this time.As the generating power of dams decreases, wind power can fill the gap to act as a guarantor against power shortages, Fisseha explained. (addisfortune.com)