A small hydroelectric plant for a better life of the Benedictine Sisters of St. Agnes in Tanzania
We also supplied a generator for a small hydroelectric plant in Tanzania, which is in operation since 2015. What is the story behind it?
Hydropower expert and investor Albert Koch was extremely impressed by the selflessness of the nuns and their unequivocal will to change. Having travelled to Tanzania to determine whether the 400kW hydroelectric plant, which had been used by the nuns to supply electricity to the convent for around 15 years, could be expanded, he started thinking on a larger scale together with the Benedictine nun Yoela Luambano: a more powerful hydroelectric plant would not only improve the financial situation of the nuns, but also the lives of the people in the region.
Sister Luambano devoted herself to their mutual vision: it soon became clear that water rights could be obtained from the government, a potential customer was found as the state-owned electricity supplier planned to purchase electricity externally to feed into the local grid, and the financing was secured with loans and a multi-million investment by Albert Koch himself. A suitable location was also soon identified: the Ruvuma River flows into the region of Tulila just a few hours away from the convent. (The source of information: https://voith.com/corp-en/industry-solutions/hydropower/small-hydro/tansania.html)
See the picture of the small hydroelectric plant and the statue of Albert Koch at the monastery below:
Recently we were approached by the granddaughter of Albert Koch, Jennifer Koch, to conduct a complete overhaul of the generator that we supplied for the dam a few years ago. The service intervention was on behalf of Tulila Hydro-Electric Plant. The Tulila small hydroelectric power station 🌀 on the Ruvuma River is powered by two Voith Kaplan turbines and is very efficient (Rated Head: 21,7 m, Rated Output: 2.600 kW/Unit).
“The journey was demaning. From Vienna we flew to Dubai, from there to Dar es Salaam, where we spent the night, and the next day we continued by helicopter to the city of Songea, where the Benedictine sisters had already picked us up. We work an average of 10 hours a day.” This is the description of the business trip of our service technician Honza Vajda, which he undertook together with Jiří Juřica and Andrej Kvaššay at the turn of June and July.
