3Power Energy Group Inc (PSPW)

[wakl]

THIS IS A REPOST #61853. PERHAPS THE MODS COULD STICKER IT AS IT WAS UP THEIR AT ONE POINT.

It looks like the pictures didn't copy…………..but the info is what is necessary…..

kfa670 Member Level Tuesday, 06/25/13 05:06:15 AM
Re: None
Post # of 65705
SHALA RIVER HPP (Rev.2.1)

***I had to fix a few inaccuracies about river origination, added some specs and pictures***

Individual HPP Specs

(Reference)
http://www.mete.gov.al/doc/20101109085004_buletini_statistikor_2009.pdf

-Elevations from the 2009 Concession Agreement (translated). This just details the elevation of the highest and lowest points of the cascade.

2009 Agreement

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=sq&u=http://www.qbz.gov.al/doc.jsp%3Fdoc%3Ddocs/Vendim%2520Nr%2520698%2520Dat%C3%AB%252011-06-2009.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3DSGP%2BPomgrad%2Bdukagjini%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DDtK%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1920%26bih%3D856

Shala River specs from Wikipedia

-Total Length: 376km
-Average Elevation Drop: 22m/km
-Average annual volume: 34m3/sec
-Maximum River Volume (November): 52m3/sec
-Minimum River Volume (August): 9m3/sec
http://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumi_i_Shal%C3%ABs

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Shala River HPP Cascade
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-Looking at the snapshots keep a few things in mind:

1. GE does little justice for actual terrain and elevations.

2. There will most likely be two types of designs used in the project. Upstream, they will consist of small reservoirs or collection points that will pipe water down a pen-stock over an elevation drop to the power station housing the turbine and generator(s). At least one of the two Micro-HPPs currently producing in valley work this way. Downstream, without a doubt the last HPP on the cascade, will be a large arc-type dam.

3. I tried to locate the sites as close to where it looked like they were in the crappy newsletter picture with the Interenergo Project pins. Unsure if the pins were made to represent dam sites, or power station sites. No doubt its all subject to change.

4. All these pictures are looking UPSTREAM. The Shala River (according to wikipedia) begins at Bajraku i Thethit, just north of Theth. It merges with the "Black River" at Nderlysa, and drains in Komani Lake. The valley in its entirety is known as the Shala (Shales) River Basin.

5. After each name is the rated capacity (Mw) followed by the average annual output (Mwh).

The reason they call it a HPP “cascade” becomes pretty obvious, as you use the same water over and over in the subsequent stations.

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1. Overview of the cascade.



Similar to the original pic from the 2nd Newsletter:



http://www.3powerenergy.com/sites/default/files/news/files/3power_energy_news_120826.pdf

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Shala1 - Hidrocentrali i Thethit(100Kw) – A micro HPP at Theth. At first I thought this location could represent the start of water collection, or just represent the beginning of the cascade, since there is no name attached to it, but then I realized that there is actually a small HPP here. The link will take you to a wiki with a map, they don't quite have it placed in the correct spot on the map, but if you scroll up a tad, it will label the plant for you.

http://enipedia.tudelft.nl/wiki/Theth_Powerplant



Theth HPP


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Shala2 – Theth (7.2Mw - 32,400Mwh) – Just south of the small Theth Hydro. The first plant on the cascade.



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Shala3 – Grunasi (10.4Mw - 45,700Mwh) – Similar to the previous site. Just down the valley a little further. The Grunasi site is pictured in the latest newsletter with an "X" vaguely marking where the weir would be.



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Shala4 – Hidrocentrali i Shales ne Nderlysa (existing) – The existing HPP at Nderlysa. I couldn't find the power ratings for it. You can however see the pen-stock, and if one follows the feed up the valley, it looks to draw its water somewhere by the Grunasi site. Can't believe I missed this one before. If you look at this location in the Enipedia map though, it does show up.



Photo of the plant looking down the Valley.


Photo of the penstock.


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Shala5 – Nderlysaj (19.5Mw - 91,400Mwh) – Fourth site of the proposed cascade. I just placed the pin in the village of Nderlysa as its hard to say where the plant would be. The Black River merges here, from a valley on the left. Shala River on right. There is an actual photo in the latest newsletter showing this site. Cool part is you can see distinguishable land marks in Google Earth imagery that you can see in the photo.



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Shala6 – Lekaj (22.2Mw - 101,800 Mwh) – This site has the second highest power capacity on the cascade. I don't really understand how or why this would be the case, because the next site makes more sense.




** For all the sites above, it appears there is a lot of settlement somewhat close to the river and no ideal places for a large arch, My guess would be some type of reservoir collection point with pen-stock over a 100-200 feet of elevation drop to a station.**

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Shala7 - Breg-Lumi (18.3Mw - 38,200Mwh) – Pretty much from the Breg on down the river, there looks to be great potential for some large dams. Mountains rise up steeply, potential to hold a lot of water back and use it during the slow parts of the year.

*I found a presentation that I believe includes a hydrology study done near Breg-Lumi only its spelled slightly different (Shala Breg Lume). So I don't know for sure if its the same place although I think it is. The translation as well as some of the units are a little hard to follow as well, but here it is.

http://www.sesec.org/pdf/5/SESEC5_Shtylla.pdf



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Shala8 – Vajvisht (50Mw - 220,850Mwh) – The largest site in the cascade. Lots of water capacity up the valley. I suspect a large arch-type dam in the range of 350-400 feet tall based on a quote from a collection of articles from 2009:

Quote:
Vajvishtit, with an annual output of 220 880 000 Power kW / h. The hydropower dam planned to be built in, that would be 2 km from the mouth of Lake Koman, which will have a height of 117 meters


http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=sq&u=http://lajme.shqiperia.com/kerko/kerkimithjeshte/termi/Interenergo%2BAlbania%2BSh&prev=/search%3Fq%3DINTERENERGO%2BALBANIA%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DmAs%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official




---------------------------------------------------------------
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WATER and POWER
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How much water is there?

2007 Hydrology Study for Shala River HPP
Although I couldn't find access to it, as recent as 2007 Molnar Kolaneci did a hydrology analysis of the Shala River Basin right before Interenergo Albania was awarded the very first concessions. (See Project History at bottom)

http://www.dekliada-alb.al/doc/cv/cv/CV%20Molnar%20Kolaneci.pdf
(Towards bottom)

We are not privy to much information on the hydrology of the basin other than what was provided by 3P in the Findings Summary. It kind of insinuates that there has been different pre-feasibility studies with various options throughout the valley:

http://irdirect.net/filings/viewer/index/1221554/000114420413016552/2

"In general the hydrology study for the discharge calculations are reasonable. The surface run-off module of the Shala river basin is one of the highest in Albania. The specific annual surface run-off modules along the Shala river basin are over 100 l/s/km2. The calculated run-off coefficient is higher than one (> 1) as checked by the three gauging stations of the Shala River. Further investigations including gauging stations and hydro-meteorological ones will increase the reliability of all data."

***100 l/s/km2 is kind of tough to wrap your head around. I'm unsure how this relates to the average annual flow rate attainable along the basin, but compared to other regions in the hydrology presentation I linked above (50 l/s/km2, Mini-Hydraulics Opportunities in Albania, see below), Shala is twice as much.

Shala River specs from Wikipedia
-Total Length: 376km
-Average Elevation Drop: 22m/km
-Average annual volume: 34m3/sec
-Maximum River Volume (November): 52m3/sec
-Minimum River Volume (August): 9m3/sec
http://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumi_i_Shal%C3%ABs

Hydrology Presentation: Mini Hydraulics Opportunities in Albania
http://www.sesec.org/pdf/5/SESEC5_Shtylla.pdf
*Below I am going to base a lot of assumptions off this presentation*

-Assuming the Shala Breg Lume in this presentation is the same as the one relative to us (and I'm virtually positive it is) then:

The average annual flow rate of the river = 15.1 m3/sec
The max flow rate it experiences is = 799 m3/sec (this seems awfully high given the wiki specs)
The estimated annual total volume = 476,000,000 m3

***Wikis specs and the study in the presentation differ by a factor of 2 on the average annual volume. Its hard to say under what circumstances and where exactly the study was done. The study is accurate and was translated correctly, it would insinuate that it was done over a period of 16 years, which would make it the more accurate of the two***

Old Interenergo Articles
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=sq&u=http://lajme.shqiperia.com/kerko/kerkimithjeshte/termi/Interenergo%2BAlbania%2BSh&prev=/search%3Fq%3DINTERENERGO%2BALBANIA%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DmAs%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official

Amongst these articles it mentions:

Quote:
the scheme presented, is based on the existing power plant, and is guaranteed flow rate of 1 m3/sec and ensure continuity of his work.


To me this means that the plant mentioned will (and always will) be guaranteed at least 1 m3/sec of flow rate and they don't have to cease operations at the existing plant(s) when the cascade is constructed.

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Theoretical Plant Design for the Shala River Basin
*Disclaimer - some super rough math to follow. This is a VERY generalized scenario. I use the numbers given in the Hydraulics presentation, not the wiki*

A simple formula for approximating electric power production at a hydroelectric plant is: P = *rho* hrgk , where

P = Power in watts,
*rho* is the density of water (~1000 kg/m3),
h = height in meters,
r = flow rate in cubic meters per second,
g = acceleration due to gravity of 9.8 m/s2,
k = coefficient of efficiency ranging from 0 to 1. Efficiency is often higher (that is, closer to 1) with larger and more modern turbines.

For our scenario we'll take some numbers on the very conservative side:

*rho* = 1000 kg/m3 (constant)
h = 46m (~150ft)
r = 10 m3/s (well below the average annual flow rate for the region)
g = 9.8 m/s2 (constant)
k = 0.9 (large modern turbines usually have an efficiency > 0.9)

P = (1000)(46)(10)(9.8)(0.9)
P = 4057200/1000000
P = 4.05 Mw

This a little more than half of the RATED capacity of the smallest plant. (7.2Mw)

*Remember*, the HPPs won't constantly run at their rated capacity year round.

Interestingly enough, if we multiply 4.05Mw by the number of hours in a year(8765)

(4.05Mw)(8765hrs) = 35,500 Mwh annually

This number gets us quite close to the Annual output of the Theth plant in the chart above (32,400Mwh)

For kicks, lets take half the rated capacities of all plants (127.6/2) equal to 63.8Mw, and multiply that by the hours in a year (8765).

(63.8)(8765) = 559,207Mwh
559207/1000 = 559 Gwh (annual)

Does that number look familiar? It should. According the plan, the annual average output of the cascade should be about 530Gwh.

In conclusion, I am far less worried now than I was at first at the amount of water available in the basin. Its all making far more sense to me now than it did at first.
One could speculate that on the average, the plants will run at about half their rated capacity. There will be times when they probably run AT the rated capacity, like during the spring runoff season, and times when they run well below, like during the fall/winter months. Simply put, it comes down to how much water you can capture and the amount of elevation you can drop it. I crunched a few numbers in about 1/2 an hour. Imagine how well these guys have this cascade figured out:

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The Hydro Players
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Stucky (http://www.stucky.ch/en/), who recently merged with
Gruner Group (http://www.gruner.eu/gruner/home)

Details of their merger:

http://www.stucky.ch/en/Flyer_Stucky_Gruner_2013.pdf

Two huge construction and engineering firms that have been around for 100 years in Europe, with experience in Albania.

From the most recent newsletter and 8k.

Quote:

Stucky was appointed to carry out a brief analysis to assess the overall technical feasibility of the project. The company will also evaluate the main constraints and related risks, assess project costs, environmental issues and cultivate a project development timeline.

Quote:
On December 3, 2012, Stucky produced an initial project appraisal report. The report, based on the site visit, provided an overview of the project and an analysis of technical issues that are important to investors and other key stakeholders.


Iryllian Consulting Engineers (www.ice.al)

Quote:
Additionally, 3Power engaged a local engineering consulting company with expertise in developing hydropower plants in Albania
(ILLYRIAN CONSULTING ENGINEERS sh.p.k www.ice.al)


Found this on their website:

Quote:
ICE is involved in the design and supervision of small to medium hydropower plants. The services of such projects may start from discovering, planning, feasibility study, evaluation and detail design and supervision of all the components of hydropower plants. Recently ICE is a distinguished consultant in this sector in Albania.


Facebook Page: (https://www.facebook.com/pages/ILLYRIAN-CONSULTING-ENGINEERS/110833478936073)


Fortune and Star Co. Limited.

From the last 10k:
Quote:
3Power is committed to complete the development work of the project and deliver within the next 8Month a Bankable feasibility study for the long term debt financing. The company engaged a consortium of Indian industrial companies with leading expertise globally in hydro power projects engineering, financing, construction and operation.The consortium undertook to cover the cost of the development work and produce the bankable study in cooperation and with 3power control.The consortium is getting in return the exclusive first right on the project construction as a general contractor.


And F&S has been holding up their end of this bargain:

Quote:

Fortune and Star Co. Ltd., (“F&S”) will be the official entity from the F&S Group and will lead the consortium replacing F&S Heavy Industries-Singapore. On July 15, 2012, the F&S consortium executives and engineering team traveled to Albania for data gathering and a site visit. Following the visit, the F&S team began an analysis to assess the overall technical feasibility of the project and evaluate the main constraints and related risks. In addition, F&S estimated project costs and a schedule for completion as well as environmental issues related to the development.
As a result of the analysis, F&S decided on September 20, 2012 to engage engineering firms with hydropower experience in Albania. Working with these firms will ensure that the Company meets all the environmental impact studies within a reasonable time frame. On October 15, 2012, F&S engaged Stucky Ltd. (www.stucky.ch). Stucky, a leading international firm in the field of large dams, has over one hundred major realized projects in its portfolio, with extensive experience in double-curvature arch dams and concrete gravity structures. Building on its original success in dam design, the company has diversified its activities into fields related to water, energy and the environment.

Quote:

Site visit on November 26, 2012: Each element of the proposed cascade was inspected with the F&S’s local team to gather basic project information (i.e. access roads conditions, layout, geology). The team verified the reliability of the data used for the hydrology study and gauged the status of the hydro metric and meteorological gauging stations.


Who is F&S's Team?

I have been misunderstanding F&S for a long time. While F&S may be a considered a "company", they are more of a "company consisting of companies" (or consortium, duh). And they are the general contractor for the Shala Project. But I kept wondering...who are their engineers? Where is their "international hydro project" experience coming from? Sometimes the info from 3P says they are "leading" the consortium for the project. Well, they are IMO. But Its the individuals from the companies below that make up said consortium. F&S is the general contractor, made up of a few employees from the "consortium members" below, as well as it seems a few consultants. They are a face, a representation IMO. And believe me when I say there is plenty of experience in the Hydro industry. F&S and their "credentials" are no longer a worry for me.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (www.bhel.com)
Synergics India (www.synergicsindia.com)
Pioneer Fabricators India (www.pioengg.com)
Continental Construction Corp. (www.cccorpn.com)

A few (not all) of the F&S Team



AK Mathur (Synergics)

http://www.synergicsindia.com/a_k_mathur.html

Navin Kumar Singh (Synergics) *now employed elsewhere*
(resume)
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cerebralsolutions.in%2Fresume%2FApplication%2520Engineer%2FNAVIN_KUMAR_SINGH.docx&ei=TvTEUcCPLYnTyAHltYCYAQ&usg=AFQjCNH_frvs3XhCnu7YCw-6laSNqoXAAA&sig2=9aJmNiUuZJYlxPTtlkREaQ&bvm=bv.48293060,d.aWc

***NOTE***

In NK Singhs resume... under Present Assignment/Employment
Quote:
Shala River Energetic Scheme (127 MW) - A Project of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy, Republic Of Albania (Europe).
Status: Under Execution.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/navin-singh/20/a08/265

Trilochan Singh (Angelique International) (http://www.angelique-india.com/)

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/trilochan-singh/24/609/67b

-Others I suspect but have yet to Identify:

Pravind Tyagi
Rajeev Kumar Agarwal
Ashraf El Khatib

Links to F&S Flight stubs:

http://share.pdfonline.com/0d9c6bbde371419aa9d26f3628f9c16e/2012-28.htm
http://share.pdfonline.com/12803dcddd63414ca8af92581815b055/2012-39.htm
http://share.pdfonline.com/12803dcddd63414ca8af92581815b055/2012-39.htm
http://share.pdfonline.com/6d5693d8023f4ccba6849f36ff5a0a58/2012-17.htm
http://share.pdfonline.com/03579ecd807c42e2a68cfacaa55ba941/2012-42.htm

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Shala HPP in the Press:
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An article (even though its from 2010) mentioning road construction improvement into the area to improve access for tourism and... well building HPPs :)
Quote:
- Projects for the development of tourism in Theth -

Astrit Bushati, MP of the area in the Albanian Parliament, highlighted the fact that "despite some shortcomings of the previous, recent years have initiated and supported a number of initiatives and local government associations, which will take place two years next, the main road are the outcome of Bog-Theth road project Postribe-Riverside-Theth end of the middle-axis Prekal Bridge, construction of four hydropower plants on the river of Shala etc..


http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=sq&u=http://www.monitor.al/turizem-dimeror-ne-theth-5534/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DNderlysa%2Bhec%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1920%26bih%3D856

Of course... the humanitarian and environmental ramifications of the project.

From Jan 2013
Quote:
There are changes coming and what will happen in the community is even more uncertain. An Albanian government and Arab firm is making plans at constructing five electric power stations of the Shara river. While Vuksani says this could create jobs and infrastructure improvements, he is also concerned that the construction could bring outside workers and displace locals other then providing income, jobs and opportunities. “I am really worried,” says Vuksani.


http://dubitus.com/albania-dukagjin-20130115/


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Shala Cascade/Interenergo Albania Project History
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This info is less relevant, is old and outdated and for me was incredibly tough to come by and understand (and still is.)

THIS HISTORY OF THIS PROJECT AND COMPANIES INVOLVED IS AN INCREDIBLE MESS... I welcome anyone to try and figure it out.

The Concession Agreement
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=sq&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.qbz.gov.al%2Fdoc.jsp%3Fdoc%3Ddocs%2FVendim%20Nr%20698%20Dat%C3%AB%2011-06-2009.htm

Originally looks like it called for 3 plants on the Shala (it sometimes translates to "Saddle" haha). Dukadjini 1, 2, 3. But in 2008, a revised bid for 6 plants was submitted and approved

2007

Interenergo Albania was formed in as a merger between 3 companies and was awarded the concession:
Quote:
Shareholders of 10 May 2007 to April 2, 2008

"Interenergo dd Slovenia." (70 percent share), owner of "Interenergo Group"
"Dukadjini", Kosovo (20 percent share), owner Ekrem Luka
"Euro Consulting", Kosovo (10 percent share), owner of Milo Petraq


-Apparently there were some pissed off people that shouted corruption and conflict of interest and backdoor bidding due to some government members ties to members of the awarded consortium.

There was a shuffling of shareholding within the consortium in 2008 to get around all the fuss and Interenergo Albania was re-structured:

2008

Quote:
Shareholders of 2 April 2008 onwards

"Interenergo dd Slovenia." (60 percent share), owner of "Interenergo Group"
"Dukadjini", Kosovo (20 percent share), owner Ekrem Luka
"Ener Alb Investments", Tirana (20 percent share), owner Haji Bardi


The best details I could find were in this post about half way down:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=sq&u=http://kosovare.forumotion.com/t1785p915-sali-berisha-miku-i-ngushte-i-serbeve&prev=/search%3Fq%3Ddukagjini%2Bgroup%2Binterenergo%26start%3D10%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1920%26bih%3D856

2009

After this, the only info I can find is from 2009, in which a number of articles pop up, all detailing some version of the same info in the links below:
http://www.ukom.gov.si/en/media_room/newsletter_slovenia_news/news/article/391/59/27e32ee583c76aab55caee9e8add8ca1/?tx_ttnews[newsletter]=4

A Slovenian newsletter with a small article about the project (pg. 13)
http://issuu.com/asmerdel/docs/st117mailing?e=1054010/3674486#search

-As we can see, sometime between 2008 and 2009 ownership in the Interenergo Albania Consortium and members involved changed again. And somewhat resemble the structure of Shala Energy Sh.pk today:

Interenergo
SGP Pomgrad
Poteza Skupina

The Concession awarded in 2009 reflects this structure.

2011
The next news I can find. From what I gather their was bankruptcy with Skupina Group, and a large junk of their ownership in Interenergo was bought by Ekrem and Dukagjini.

http://limun.hr/en/main.aspx?id=675322

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=sl&u=http://www.finance.si/301952/Poteza-za-Interenergo-Albanija-iztr%C5%BEila-17-milijona-evrov&prev=/search%3Fq%3DPoteza%2B%2BInterenergo%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3D9ue%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1920%26bih%3D856

All I know is, the Shala River Project has had a real tough go of things. Somewhere along the line, I think Dukagjini Corp ended up with most of the shares and control of Interenergo Albania as well as the concession rights as described in the links above.
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AND HERE WE ARE TODAY

Hopefully with the deep pockets of 3P management teamed with F&S's hydro background and Shala Energies rights to the project, PM Berisha won't have to see this god-forsaken concession contract on his desk ever again. Its all going to boil down to lining up some financing.... Lets hope that is whats next!

-Please, if anyone has anything to add, or something that should be subtracted, do speak up-