The HydroTimor weBlog

The Power Sector Annual Meeting between Timor-Leste and Norway was held in Dili 7th February 2008.

Photo: Basil Rolandsen (www.bouvet.info)

After opening of the meeting by the Minister of Infrastructure, Mr Pedro da Silva Lay, the meeting was headed by the Secretary of State for Electricity, Water and Urbanization, Mr Januario da Costa Pereira. The Chargée d’Affairs from the Norwegian Embassy Section in Dili, Ms Eva Irene Tuft, represented Norway together with the counsellor Mette Kottmann from the Norwegian Embassy in Jakarta.

The intention for such meetings is to discuss the progress of the cooperation between the two countries, the use of funds compared to what have been achieved and possible changes in the program for the cooperation.

The first phase of the cooperation will be completed this year.
The Annual Meeting recommended a prolongation of the cooperation for a new period of 5 years. There will be a special emphasis on hydropower and hydrology, included fulfilling of the hydrological network in Timor-Leste, and to establish a database and information system for the hydrological data.

It was further recommended that Norway should finance and carry out a Hydropower Master Plan for Timor-Leste, and a Power System Master Plan.
Norway would aim to finance the construction of the Atsabe Small Hydropower Project in Magapu river.

Support was also requested as to the legal framework, accounting principles, technical and financial reporting, and procurement.

Two large containers full of equipment for the Gariuai power house just arrived in Dili.

Photo: Basil Rolandsen (www.bouvet.info)

Seven large crates containing turbine, generator, transformer, a crane, valves and pipes, as well as other equipment, have now arrived our warehouse in Dili. The pic shows Alf Adeler supervising the unloading of the containers, which required heavy duty equipment due to the bulk and weight of the crates. They will be stored until they can be transported to the site in Gariuai and installed, a process to be aided by specialists from Germany.
If all goes according to plans now, the power plant should be delivering electricity by end of May!

The wet season makes the work more challenging, but we see progress anyway in Gariuai. The latest development is the roofing and painting of the power house, which will contain the turbine and other equipment.

Photo: Basil Rolandsen (www.bouvet.info)

Photo: Basil Rolandsen (www.bouvet.info)

Another development, found on the opposite side of the building, is the construction of the outlet leading the water from the turbine into the river.

We got as greeting from one of our readers, Gaspar, an East Timorese studying abroad. He sends his congratulations to the HydroTimor team on the web site, and says it is a good way to be updated for students. He also asks a question on a subject many may be interested in: “Can u enable your comments section so that we can give our opinion??”.

First: Thank you so much Gaspar for your greetings and nice words – much appreciated by us all! As for comments, we would love to open up for comments, really, but the fact of the matter is that we would be overflowed by spam by allowing comments. We would however love to hear from our readers, so just use the email address on the web site. Thanks and best regards!

UPDATE: We are now open for comments! A spam filter has been tested for a while, and we are now announcing that comments are now both possible and more than welcome…

A team from HydroTimor presented 10 January the Iralalaru hydropower project for members of the government, in order to prepare for the decision on contract form for the construction. This is an important step, allowing preparations of tender documents to progress.

Photo: Basil Rolandsen (www.bouvet.info)

The participants to the meeting was (from left) Kjell Mathiesen (Norconsult, Chief Hydropower Engineer), Alf Adeler (NVE, Adviser), Januario Pereira (Secretary of State for Electricity, Water and Urbanisation), Avelino Maria Coelho (Secretary of State for Energy Policy), Xanana Gusmao (Prime Minister), Emilia Pires (Minister for Finance), Pedro Lay (Minister for Infrastructure), Maria Moniz (HydroTimor) and Kassius Klei Ximenes (HydroTimor).

The Norwegian Minister for Finance visited the Gariuai project 11 December, accompanied by the Norwegian Ambassador and the UN Deputy SRSG, as well as several other visitors!

Minister Kristin Halvorsen (centre front) paid a short visit to Timor-Leste to attend the opening of the new Embassy Section Office in Dili, and wanted to see the hydropower project supported by Norway. Ambassador Bjørn Blokhus (left front) covers Indonesia and Timor-Leste, and accompanied the minister. UN DSRSG Finn Reske-Nielsen also joined for the Gariuai visit, and due to time constraints they arrived in UN helicopter. The group visited the Power House, and showed great interest in the construction and admired the quality of the work. Norway has vast experience when it comes to hydro power development, but the minister admitted that this was the first such construction she had visited which was blessed through a traditional ceremony (see previous blog post)!

Photo: Basil Rolandsen (www.bouvet.info)

Extending the penstock through the rough terrain near the dams requires finding the optimal path.

Norwegian Project Consultant Jan Høiseth just completed a visit to the site, where he reassessed the route the penstock will follow the final stretch up to the ponds. In close cooperation with Construction Manager Vasco Pinto and Project Adviser Alf Adeler, he measured angles and calculated the path to follow. This allows the workers to continue digging through the last hills, and we still hope the project may be completed first quarter next year, in spite of the coming rains…

Photo: Basil Rolandsen (www.bouvet.info)

The penstock, the pipe transporting the water from the dams to the power station, are approaching the dams.

The rainy season near, workers are digging hard to complete the ditches so that the penstock may be laid and covered again. Hard rain will make this work difficult, and may lead to delays… To add to the challenges, the terrain close to the dams is very steep and requires digging through a hill. Thus, heavy equipment is used, like this excavator, which digs a deep trench through a hill just before the penstock will split into two smaller pipes leading to the two ponds.

Photo: Basil Rolandsen (www.bouvet.info)

The intake ponds in Garuiuai are progressing rapidly. These two ponds are collecting water from the springs in Builai and Wainalale.

The construction done now is of a small earth fill dam at each spring. This will create a small pool in order to raise the water level sufficiently for collecting the water into the penstock (the pipe to the power station about 187 metres below). A concrete base containing technical parts, including the intake connecting to the penstock, is more or less finished. The rest of the dams are made by compacted soil with a core of ironwood. The dams are sealed with geotextile, with stone pitched surface.

Casting the intake part of the Builai dam.
Photo: Basil Rolandsen (www.bouvet.info)

Things are happening in Gariuai! The penstock (pipeline) is extending. The Powerhouse is shaping up. The intake ponds construction has started.

There has been huge progress in constructing the powerhouse. This is critical work, demanding accuracy and high-quality craftmanship. The building will soon hold the turbine, connected to the end of the penstock and the generator. As even small errors here may be dangerous and destructive, the HydroTimor team is following the work closely to ensure compliance with the plans. They report that the work so far has progressed well, and are impressed with the local construction managers, saying this proves that local managers may do high-quality work. Good for our future as a nation!

Construction of the powerhouse is progressing well.
Photo: Basil Rolandsen (www.bouvet.info)

HydroTimor has measured the waterflow of the Magapu river for more than a year, assessing the possibilities for building a small hydropower plant about 6-7 km outside Atsabe town. The idea is to build a small intake weir uphill, and lead the water through a canal to a pipeline (penstock) connected to a downhill power house. The measurements are not yet finished, but indications so far is that the plant may produce somewhere between 10 and 15 GWh annually.

A hydropower engineer from Norway, Are Kiel is in Atsabe now, measuring the landscape and finding a possible path for the canal. His findings will later be posted at the website, together with more info on the project. We hope to see the project started next year. The electricity will initially benefit the local communities, and later (as more power lines are stretched) that the plant will contribute nationally, delivering to the national grid.

We are preparing an info package on the Iralalaru project, to be done by Kassius Klei Ximenes from HydroTimor (photo) and Basil Rolandsen from the Bouvet Foundation.

The info package will consist of a brochure (ref the Gariuai brochure), as well as a DVD with video and supplementary information. The brochure will be finished during October, while the DVD is scheduled for late November.

This info, together with adapted video clips, will also be posted at the web site. We look forward to inform more about Iralalaru Hydroelectric Power Project, as the plans are now being finalised before tendering. Work should start next year, to be finished in 2011.