KenGen plans to raise the height of Masinga dam walls by 1.5 metres to enable the dam to store more water and generate more power.
The reservoir covers a surface area of 120sq kilometres or about 29.6 acres. The dam wall covers 2.2 kilometres and if it is raised by 1.5 metres the storage increases by 22 per cent, which will improve power production.
The dam, which is part of the seven folks project, was expected to fill through the long rains in April, May and June but did not.
“This year we expected a long rainy season but it never happened due to climate change thus experiencing below-normal rain,” Masinga dam chief engineer Johnson Waweru said.
“We expected to generate the power over a longer time but instead, it never occurred and we have been forced to stop some of our generators at a time due to a low amount of water.”
The Masinga Power Station receives its water from River Tana and by increasing the dam walls, the amount of power produced will also rise.
The increase in production of power in Masinga Power Station will also empower the government in achieving its target of increasing electricity connectivity to 65 per cent by 2022.
“Electricity is affordable by most of the Kenyans and this increases her demand,” Waweru said.
“We understand there has developed plenty uses of electricity and this makes it a competitive exercise by KenGen and the Kenya Power who disseminates to consumers.”
Masinga Power Station produces power amounting to 40Mega watts and raising the size of the reservoir will raise the production.
According to Waweru, the demand for power in the country is growing at a high rate and the company has to be ready to meet the energy demand.
“Due to the growing power demand, we have to take various measures to make sure we are generating more power. We can also consider setting up more power plants or introducing solar energy as a way of meeting the demand of the market,” he said.
Masinga dam, which also shares its water with Kamburu dam on its south, targets filling the water until it spills through the spillway.
During this time the two vertical Kaplan in charge of driving the two generators capable of generating the 40MW power are working at their best, he said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris