Kajbar Power Station Explained

Country:Sudan
Purpose:Power
Coordinates:19.94°N 30.4308°W
Status:P
Plant Capacity:360
Kajbar Dam
Plant Turbines:6 x 60 MW
Cost:$700 m
Dam Crosses:Nile River
Dam Height Thalweg:20 m
Location:Northern State
Res Surface:110 km2

The Kajbar Power Station is a proposed hydroelectric power plant on the Nile in northern Sudan. Flooding the third cataract, it will have a power generating capacity of 360 MW, enough to power over 202,000 homes.[1] Among other goals, the dam aims at facilitating heavy industry implantation in the area by its power generation.[2]

Kajbar power station is part of a larger hydropower generation programme all along the Nile in Sudan, that also includes the Merowe dam (completed in 2009), Shreiq dam and Dal dam (proposed).[3]

As of 2020, the project is stalled and the expected completion date is unknown.

Opposition

Kajbar hydropower project has encountered a massive opposition from local communities, most of them belonging to the threatened Nubian minority. The reservoir created by Kajbar dam would flood 110 km2 of the Nile valley, requiring the relocation of 10,000 people from 10 to 12 villages, along with the submersion of some 500 archaeological sites.[4] [5] As a consequence, several protests against the project have occurred since the 2000s, some of them being violently repressed such as in 2007.[6]

Initially expected for completion by 2016, the project has been stalled due to strong opposition, and no significant progress had been made as of 2020.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1150 MW Merove Hydro Power Plant built in Sudan as per the design by Institute Hydroproject . 2009-07-25 . www.powereng.ru . 2009-08-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090710010749/http://www.powereng.ru/eng/data/press/news/2009_04_03.php . July 10, 2009 .
  2. Web site: Sudan's 360 MW Kajbar hydropower scheme to proceed. Heuwel. Sahra. 2013-05-23. ESI-Africa.com. en-ZA. 2020-04-12.
  3. Book: Power relations of development : The case of dam construction in the Nubian homeland, Sudan. 2018. 183.
  4. Web site: New Chinese dam project fuels ethnic conflict in Sudan Pambazuka News. www.pambazuka.org. 4 March 2016 . en. 2020-04-12.
  5. Web site: Sudan's 360 MW Kajbar hydropower scheme to proceed. Heuwel. Sahra. 2013-05-23. ESI-Africa.com. en-ZA. 2020-04-12.
  6. Web site: Protests against Kajbar Dam in Sudan met with violence Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. www.business-humanrights.org. en. 2020-04-12.
  7. Web site: International - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). www.eia.gov. 2020-04-12.