Gilkes has announced that its hydro engineering team has recently completed commissioning of the 8.2MW Ruo-Ndiza hydroelectric power station in Mulanje, Southern Malawi.
The run-of-river project, on the river Ruo at the foot of Mount Mulanje, was carried out on behalf of Mulanje Renewable Energy (MRE) in two phases over two years.
The 8.2MW Ruo-Ndiza, Mulanje, Southern Malawi
The first phase of the project was installed and commissioned in 2018 with a 3.3MW Pelton turbine using the flow from the river Ndiza, with two further 3.3MW Pelton Turbinesinstalled and commissioned earlier this year harnessing the flow of the river Ruo.
The schemes are located on the Lujeri tea estate where Gilkes have a long history of hydropower, installing turbines here as far back as 1934.
This month the company als received another order from a private developer in Malawi for the supply and installation of a 3MW Turgo turbine and associated electro-mechanical equipment.
Construction of the project is due to commence at the end of April with commissioning to take place end of 2020. This is a very tight delivery, especially in the current climate, but Gilkes said it will work very closely with the customer to achieve its commitments.
The plant will supply power to the main grid.
