Eaton which is an intelligent power management company has provided vital support towards the successful completion of the Gitugu hydropower plant in Murang’a County.
The new power plant is expected to boost electricity supplies to towns and villages in Muranga County, despite previous supply chain difficulties.
Eaton’s team in East Africa in partnership with Switchgear Limited, provided hydropower specialists, Hydrobox, toward the completion of the project. The two companies provided consultancy advice and all components needed for the project, ranging from three-phase miniature circuit breakers to large air circuit breakers.
Hydrobox specializes in supplying containerized compact power plants for installation in remote locations. For this project, they needed to build a hybrid power plant with 55km grid lines to a remote site in Gitugu, Murang’a.
Explaining the company’s smart contribution, Rik Vereecken, chief technology officer at Hydrobox Smart Grids said, “When there were issues with the supply chain – first due to the global pandemic, and then because of the delays caused when a container ship blocked the Suez Canal in 2021, making world news, Eaton looked at how they could get products to us using alternative methods. They even delivered to our end-customer directly from their manufacturing plants when required.”
Deon Ferreira, country sales manager for Southern and East Africa at Eaton, added: “Hydrobox needed a wide range of components, as well as assistance from engineers who could help them assemble machinery required to build the plant. Our partner network in the region meant that we were able to provide them with the products and support required.”
Eaton’s ability to supply the products needed meant that Hydrobox delivered its project on time, putting the Gitugu power plant on track to meet its 2023 target. The Hydrobox will supply the hydropower mini-grid project with more than 2 Gigawatts of power to serve the community.