WD Power delivers another hydro-power station at Kibali with excellence

The WD Power team has successfully completed the installation and commissioning of two horizontal Kaplan turbines in a new hydro-power station at the Kibali mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

This has enabled the remote mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to expand hydro power generation capacity at its Azambi site where it uses hydro power as a cost effective alternative to diesel engine power.

WD Power was also responsible for the mechanical manufacturing of the turbines which were installed at Azambi. This provided the company with the background knowledge to efficiently perform the installation for the mine.

WD Power’s technical director Bernard Richard says the turbines have the capacity to deliver 5 MW each with a head of 11 m at a flow rate of 50m³/s. The new hydro-power station is synchronised with two other hydro-power stations on the Kibali grid.

“WD Power has now delivered the mechanical installation of all three hydro power stations at Kibali, including four Kaplan and five Francis turbines,” Richard says.“We have been involved in installation work at the mine since 2012. Our know-how and experience of working on the turbines has also led to ongoing maintenance work on the turbines.”

WD Power project manager Brian Adendorff says the company was the preferred supplier on this project as it has a good track record of delivering on time and on budget. “WD Power also has extensive experience of working in Africa and a first-rate engineering capability: this is evident from the fact that we designed the main bearing of the turbine, assembled the equipment and conducted the factory acceptance test (FAT) at our workshop in South Africa, before sending the turbines to the site.”

Azambi project manager Jannie Bekker comments that the main advantage of having WD Power on site is that the company becomes part of the client’s team. “They interact well with all the parties on site and simply revise plans and reschedule work when delays occur, while never losing sight of the client’s milestones and target delivery dates.”

“WD Power is always available to provide technical advice and share lessons they have learnt on similar projects,” Bekker says. “In fact, they alert and assist the client and design engineer if any oversights are made.”

WD Power ultimately played a key role in the success of the Kibali mine’s latest hydro-power project. The power station generated its first power from the Azambi site on the target date of 27 July and has been operating smoothly since then.

WD Power managing director John Wright says the successful installation of yet another hydro power station underscores the fact that WD Power is a leader in hydro power and similar installations in Africa.