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Darunta Hydro-Electric Power
Plant.
The Darunta
Hydroelectric Power Station is located on the Kabul River,
approximately 7 km west of the center of Jalalabad, the capital of
Nangarhar Province in Eastern Afghanistan. Darunta was
constructed in 1964 as a key part of a
comprehensive development program that included construction of
irrigation systems, roads, collective farms, power generation, and
transmission and distribution facilities. The power plant was
planned, designed, and built by companies from the Soviet Union,
with a total installed capacity of 11.5 MW. The plant, currently
operating at 9 MW, is
the only source of power for the electrical distribution system of
Jalalabad and surrounding areas in Nangarhar.
Even though the
water flow at Darunta is highly seasonal, the power plant operates
evenly year as a result of the reservoir of 44 million
cubic meters.
Table showing
Seasonality of Hydrology at Darunta
During the turmoil
of the last few decades in Afghanistan, the Darunta Hydroelectric
Power Station gradually deteriorated due to war damage and the lack
of operations and management resources and replacement parts.
Rehabilitation
Project Description
USAID is
rehabilitating and increasing the capacity of Darunta to 13.5 MW in
two phases: The short term, phase 1 objectives of the rehabilitation
activities are:
-
To improve the
reliability of the power plant by purchasing equipment, parts
and materials needed for immediate repairs
-
To provide the
plant staff with the tools needed to
-
maintain the
plant over time
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To train plant
staff and those from other plants whenever possible to enhance
system maintenance
The long term,
phase 2 objectives are:
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To
rehabilitate, upgrade and modernize the Darunta Hydroelectric
Plant to ensure long-term reliability
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To increase the
existing capacity by 40 % (4 MW)
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To
significantly upgrade the skills of staff at Darunta and other
power plants to enable them to continue operations and
management using the industry’s best practices and international
standards
The prime accomplishments at Darunta relate to the
existing staff’s new acquired ability to conduct and manage
operations and their ability to respond to breakdowns more
effectively. This has meant improved reliability of the power plant
that in turn has had a direct impact on the economic strength of the
Nangarhar area in and around Jalalabad. With reliable power,
households and businesses can reduce their use and dependence on
very expensive diesel and gasoline generators.
-
Specific
accomplishments include:
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Supplying plant
staff with new and replacement tools
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Providing
equipment and parts needed to replace the plant’s DC operation
and emergency power supply
-
Purchasing
materials and spare parts needed for efficient operation and
quick repair of the power plant
-
Introducing
modern test instruments and training staff in the use of all the
new instrumentation
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Preparing
scanned copies of the 45 year old prints of project drawings,
many of which were worn out from constant use, as a permanent
record for use in phase 2 rehabilitation efforts
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Introducing and
enforcing safe working practices at Darunta, including providing
new or rehabilitated safety equipment for staff use
Planned Work
The future goal, to
be accomplished in phase 2, will be to modernize the plant and
increase its capacity. Existing plant staff using tools, materials
and new equipment,
under technical
guidance and supervision provided by USAID contractors will do the
modernizing and upgrading of the Darunta Hydroelectric Power
Station. This work will include:
-
Replacing the
existing turbine runners with fixed blade runners thereby
providing an increase in power of up to 40% (9.5 – 13.5 MW).
-
Replacing
generator coils, installing new regulators and new digital
metering, and protection and control systems
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Extensive
rewiring and re-piping
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Refurbishing
gates and cranes
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