TrinaTracker, a global tracking solutions provider, has completed “Kesses,” a 55 MW PV installation located in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. The project is owned by Alten Energías Renovables and built by Voltalia in partnership with TrinaTracker.
The installation includes 103.936 ultra-high-power modules mounted on 928 single-axe Vanguard 2P trackers, with an innovative multi-drive system and a robust design that ensures installation stability during the rainy season, frequently coming with strong wind.
It is worth highlighting the excellent adaptability of Vanguard 2P trackers to the terrain, with multiple slopes, different ground conditions and equipment designed to work above 2000 meters.
Since Photovoltaic is a new technology in Uasin Gishu County, where the economy depends entirely on agriculture and ranching, finding skilled labor in the area became a challenge.
Therefore, TrinaTracker sent an engineering team already experienced in the local market for technical training and on-site supervising, ensuring the assembly’s high quality and the project’s long-time reliability.
The six months duration of the rainy season was also a challenge. The management of the local machinery, offloading and distribution of material across the site and the assembly of the trackers under the rain became vital factors to be considered to provide extra health and safety measures and define an efficient and well-organized contingency plan. As a result, TrinaTracker guaranteed both the security and well-being of the staff and the timely execution of the project.
Jose Carlos Talavera, Head of Operations and Fulfilment at TrinaTracker, said, “It is really gratifying to see how TrinaTracker provides excellent services even in the most remote and demanding areas of the world. I am glad to confidently affirm that we are one of the few tracker solutions providers that can assure efficiency and promptness in implementing PV projects in Kenya”.
Moreover, Nuno Bastos Silva, Head of Project at Voltalia stated, “The outstanding excellency carried out by TrinaTracker in this important and challenging project in Africa shows extensive experience in projects located in distant regions, with difficult environments and a very good organization in the management of human resources and equipment. As the project is located in an area where unemployment is high, all the partners involved in this project, where TrinaTracker is also part of it, have hired a lot of local people from the various local communities, creating immense opportunities for learning and development in that region.
The development of Kesses created more than 70 local jobs, contributing to the growth of the local economy. The PV plant will produce a capacity of 123 MW/h of clean energy every year, which means enough electricity to cover the demand of 22.000 homes. Furthermore, the installation will avoid the emission of 53 CO2 Tonnes annually.
Besides the Kesses PV plant, TrinaTracker has developed two more installations in Kenya, “Radiant” and “Eldosol”, accumulating a total capacity of 155 MW, which positions TrinaTracker as a leading tracking solutions provider in the region.