Welcome to European Tribune. It's gone a bit quiet around here these days, but it's still going.
Display:
This might be a way to recycle older wind turbines via refurbishment and re-manufacturing. It would probably require that a substantial number of experienced key management and manufacturing personnel be retained on a three to five year basis while local talent was brought up to the required level of expertise. There are a significant number of such turbines still in service in California alone. There appear to be excellent wind resources in and along the shores of the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba. Crazy Horse would likely have the best take on the feasibility of such a scheme. But it might make more sense to install the most cost effective of current production units. Reliable local power could be a great boon to the small towns along these shores. Tourist attractions are currently dependent on diesel generators for power and fuel is intermittent.

   

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Mon Jul 15th, 2013 at 04:10:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
For Egypt, I would think photovoltaics would be a more logical choice. Combined with diurnal-cycle storage, for which pumped hydro would be the logical choice --- Lake Nasser? The Qattara Depression?
by mustakissa on Tue Jul 16th, 2013 at 01:10:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Given 2.1 Gigawatt capacity at the Aswan High Dam, simply shifting around the scheduling of hydropower energy production could well compensate for a substantial amount of diurnal swings in solar power production ...

... but windpower production in the high value wind resources would also likely reduce the scale of storage required.


I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Tue Jul 16th, 2013 at 04:07:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]
You're right... you don't actually have to pump to get 'pumped' storage.
by mustakissa on Tue Jul 16th, 2013 at 05:08:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]
And by the time that Egypt hits the threshold where it may need some actual pumped storage, it can be added incrementally at the Aswan High Dam.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Sat Jul 20th, 2013 at 12:33:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]
.
Activists protest perceived infringement on Egypt's traditional share of Nile water

(Ahram) May, 2013 - Ethiopia's 'Renaissance Dam' project- one of four planned hydro-electric power projects - has been a source of concern for the Egyptian government, amid ongoing sensitivities regarding the project's possible effects on Egypt's traditional share of Nile water.

According to the state-run National Planning Institute, Egypt will need an additional 21 billion cubic metres of water per year by 2050 - on top of its current quota of 55 billion metres - to meet the needs of a projected population of some 150 million.

Will Ethiopia's 'grand' new dam steal Nile waters from Egypt?



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Jul 20th, 2013 at 11:32:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It can be very disruptive while the dam is filled, but it does not have to be. All depends on how fast the dam is filled and how well this is coordinated with the needs downstream.

Given the importance of the issue and that both countries militaries are US-aligned I am still expecting a US-brokered deal. Taking their time though.

Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se

by A swedish kind of death on Sun Jul 21st, 2013 at 02:27:42 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Ethiopia would be the ideal place for combining the Millenium Dam with photovoltaics. During the wet season the reservoir is full; during the dry season when the sun shines, there are often blackouts due to the water running out. The dam has a capacity factor of only 33%, for a nominal power of 6 GW. PV would be the ideal way to stretch the water supply and eliminate the intermittency.
by mustakissa on Tue Jul 23rd, 2013 at 10:22:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]
great synergy, mustakissa. use the army to help install the PV!

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty
by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Tue Jul 23rd, 2013 at 02:10:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I would think soft credits should do the job. That, and good information. But in Ethiopia everything is harder than it seems... even access to the Internet is still a state monopoly
by mustakissa on Tue Jul 23rd, 2013 at 03:09:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
At least it looks like they are not yet a victim of Neo-Liberal policies and economics.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Tue Jul 23rd, 2013 at 09:29:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Yep, you cannot even go to McDonalds there, from what they tell me
by mustakissa on Wed Jul 24th, 2013 at 07:14:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The Horror! How can people live like that?

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Wed Jul 24th, 2013 at 09:52:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]
It's like that in Trento too. Not just McDonalds. No Burger King, KFC, Quick, or Starbucks either.
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Wed Jul 24th, 2013 at 01:54:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]
In Eritrea, run by a previously allied group (EPLF) to the group in power in Ethiopia (TPLF), Coca Cola Eritrea is the soda monopoly with some kind of split of profits between Coca Cola international on one hand and the state/party/president on the other (questions about exact division are not encouraged).

No McDonalds though, last I heard.

Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se

by A swedish kind of death on Wed Jul 24th, 2013 at 02:11:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Egypt will need an additional 21 billion cubic metres of water per year by 2050

Reduction in demand for hydroelectric power through development of wind and solar could provide some of that additional water, especially at times of low flow, as more water would be available given the same input from up stream. Another possibility would be any effective measure to reduce silting behind the dam, (which will be reduced by an upstream dam).

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Mon Jul 22nd, 2013 at 03:33:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Display:

Occasional Series