A study of energy conversion at the Jebba Hydroelectric power station

Hydroelectric power significantly contributes to the national power grid of Nigeria. This paper examined the extent of utilization of the energy supplied into each of the turbo-alternators at the Jebba Hydroelectric Power Station (JHEPS), Nigeria and suggests corrective culture to be employed for an improved efficiency. The basic principle of a hydropower scheme and its conversion considerations were highlighted. The daily discharge, Q, in cumecs and the power generated, P, in MW at JHEPS over a decade period (2005-2014) were analyzed using codes and scripts of Microsoft EXCEL-VBA. Jebba hydroelectric power station is one of the three major hydropower stations in Nigeria and the potential is just beginning to be exploited. The stochastic distribution pattern of the station is also presented for further analysis of failure and repair of the station. The conversion behavior of each unit was found to be linear and all have a value greater than 0.5 on a scale of 0.00 to 1.00. Turbo-alternator (TA) unit 1 was found to have the highest conversion characteristic of 0.9951, while unit 4 was the least at 0.6884. However unit 6 was exempted in this analysis as it was not in use during this period. The paper also gave an insight into the effective operating head of each TA, the paper also suggests the corrective measure to employ for each turbine.