The commissioning of the upgraded fourth turbine at the Kariba North power station, in Zambia, faces a delay of at least a year, the country’s electricity utility said this week.

Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (Zesco) power rehabilitation director Musonda Chibulu said that a fire, which broke out in a work area at the hydropower station in September, had damaged some parts of the turbine, which was being reassembled at the time.

Rehabilitation work by contractor Alstom has subsequently been suspended. Some parts had to be replaced and were currently being manufactured in France.

Further, two overhead cranes, which were critical to completing the rehabilitation project, had also been damaged and would likely only be operational again by August this year, said Chibulu.

This meant that the commissioning of the turbine, which had initially been scheduled for March this year, would likely only occur in March 2011, at the earliest.

Despite the delay of the commissioning of the turbine, Zesco’s overall power rehabilitation programme (PRP), which was aimed at replacing and upgrading ageing infrastructure at a number of hydropower stations across Zambia, had led to some improvements in the country’s overall power generation capabilities.

The PRP, which had been funded by Zesco, and through loans from the World Bank, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), as well as other international development finance institutions, had been started in the late 1990s to rehabilitate the Kariba North, the Kafue Gorge and the Victoria Falls hydropower stations.

With the work at the Kafue Gorge and the Victoria Falls power stations largely completed, and with the first three turbines at the Kariba North power station running, the PRP had already boosted the country’s overall power output and reduced the need for load shedding in the country.

Once completed, the rehabilitated hydropower stations would add an additional 220 MW to the grid.

Each of the four turbines at Kariba North was being upgraded from 150-MW installed capacity to 180-MW installed capacity.

Further, the PRP had also extended the life of the power plants by 20 years to 30 years, said Chibulu.

In addition, Kariba North power station manager Mwenda Cosmas noted that the PRP had also allowed for the transfer of skills from foreign contractors to local workers, while employment opportunities for locals had been created.

Chibulu added that the transfer of skills would also assist Zesco during the construction and completion of the Kariba North extension project, which involved the adding of a further two 180-MW turbines to the existing station.

He noted that the fire in September had also affected a part of the extension project, but emphasised that there would be no material impact on the completion of the project in 2012.

Chibulu explained that while an investigation into the fire and the area where it occurred was ongoing, the contractor, SinoHydro, continued with other construction areas of the extension project.

With continued economic growth and a “phenomenal” growth in the demand for electricity of about 6% a year on the back of the development of new mines and other industries, the completion of the PRP, as well as new generation projects were needed, said Chibulu.

Further to the $420-million Kariba North extension project, Zesco was also working on implementing the $275-million 120-MW Itezhi Tezhi hydropower station, which was expected to be completed by 2013.

Chibulu noted that the country also had to continue improving its transmission and distribution networks, as well as its demand-side management efforts.