Kivu 56 Methane Gas to Power Project

Published: 10th August 2023 | Issue 86

Kivu 56 Methane to Gas Power Project, is a 56 megawatts (75,000 hp) methane gas to power plant at Lake Kivu, Rwanda. The methane and carbon dioxide that lives at the bottom of the lake is accumulated from thousands of years’ worth of nearby volcanic activity. The Project consists of both offshore and onshore components connected via submerged pipeline. The offshore installation will be extracting methane gas dissolved within a deep layer of water in Lake Kivu and processing it to remove water contents and other gases to concentrate the methane content. The onshore component is located at Cape of Busororo where the gas is used to turn gas turbines to generate electricity to the Rwanda grid.

Orseal worked alongside the EPC Contractor to deliver such a unique project. Collectively, we ensured that all of the technical specifications were adhered to, and it was despatched as per the project schedule. The complete package comprised of the following: manual ball valves, two and five valve manifolds, dual plate check valves, globe valves, double block & bleed valves, actuated ball valves and a 20” basket strainer unit fitted with four 20” high performance butterfly valves to complete the assembly! The valve sizes range from ½” to 20” and the main material is stainless steel.

In addition to the inhouse inspection we completed, we arranged for the valves to be independently tested to confirm they conformed to the customer’s expectation before the package arrived at the site. A full document dossier was supplied to showcase all the testing procedures & certificates for the project. The document dossier was created to show that the products supplied complied with their standards and suit the working conditions.

The logistics behind this project was very challenging. The packaged crates were sea freighted to East Africa and then transported by road to Rwanda for 1000 miles. This equates to 20-25 days of travel.

We had to ensure that the packaged equipment reached the site with no damage.

Projects like this one require extra care and handling, hence Orseal developed a global network of partners and freight forwarders to ensure that the quality of goods is maintained from start to finish.

The whole package was fully installed by the engineers and fabricators at the Lake Kivu site and has been performing well in the environment ever since.

For more information on this project, and to find out more about Orseal’s services, please contact us.