Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) invites sealed bids by 26 January 2022 for the design, manufacture, delivery, installation, testing and commissioning of two new Francis runners for Units 2 and 3 at the Gitaru hydropower plant.
The scope of works will also entail the detailed design and engineering of two turbine guide bearings and all associated auxiliaries for units 2 and 3, performance of CFD analysis, FMEA (Failure Mode Effect Analysis) with KenGen engineers, refurbishment of the shaft and the stationary components, as well as training of KenGen Engineers.
Kenya’s state power producer noted that the growth of intermittent renewable energy has led to the need for its hydro units to provide a flexible operating range. The new runners will therefore be required to contribute to grid stability by providing a wide range of operation of the machines from part load to full load during primary control within a short notice.
The Gitaru run-of-river station on the Tana river, between the counties of Embu and Machakos in the former Eastern Province, comprises three vertically mounted turbine generators with a combined installed capacity of 253 MW. Units 2 and 3, with an installed capacity of 81.8 MW and a flow rate of 70 m3/s each, were commissioned in 1978. The current turbine runners for units 2 and 3 have been experiencing frequent shearing off of the mounting bolts for the rotating wearing ring. This has been caused by excessive vibrations experienced during part-load operation ranges attributed to grid fluctuations.
The new runners should therefore have an integrated rotating wearing ring and a wider range of operation capabilities, according to a tender notice published on 30 November. The new runners are to be designed and optimized to fit perfectly into the existing turbine’s components and fixtures. The operating range of the new runners should be between at least 10 and 82 MW and the runners should be designed to meet normal operating conditions (50 to 65 MW), steady-state operations at low loads and part loads, and transient events such as start-stops.
All tenders must be accompanied by a security of €20 000 from a local bank in Kenya.
Tender documents, including qualifying criteria and bidding procedure, for contract reference KGN-HYD-054-2021 can be downloaded free of charge from the website. Tenderers who download the tender document must forward their contact details immediately to tenders@kengen.co.ke to facilitate any further clarification or addendum.
For further information, contact: Kenya Electricity Generating Co, Stima Plaza Phase III, Kolobot Road, Parklands PO Box 47936-00100, Nairobi, Kenya; Email: tenders@kengen.co.ke; Web: www.kengen.co.ke
