Reliability evaluation of Kainji hydroelectric power station in Nigeria

By virtue of the vital nature of electric power, both to our economic and personal well being, a power system is expected to supply electrical energy as economical as possible and with a high degree of quality and reliability. This research aimed at evaluating the reliability performance of Kainji hydro electric power station of Nigeria. The result of this study is intended to provide improved criteria for future proposals, and serves as a basis for generation expansion planning of hydro electric power stations and the entire power generation system in Nigeria. Herein reliability evaluation based on the Frequency and Duration (F & D) approach is adopted. A set of reliability parameters which quantify generating unit reliability, are computed for each unit using the annual outage durations. The overall stations reliability is evaluated by the convolution of the generation and load models, using the Frequency and Duration (F&D) approach. The study generally shows that the generating units at Kainji hydro power stations have not been adequately maintained leading to frequent and delayed forced outage indicating unreliable performance of the individual units and the entire station.