Prevent a premature death of a 300 MW hydropower plant: upgrading Tekeze hydropower plant

• Performance degradation of hydropower plant. • Spilling and dam failure in hydropower plant. • Rehabilitation of hydropower plant. • Converting a hydropower plant into multipurpose facility. The 300 MW Tekeze hydropower plant, in Ethiopia, is facing premature performance degradation and technical challenges that are endangering its continued operation. This study conducted a comprehensive assessment of the power plant and identified critical issues including but not limited to severe unit vibration, design flaws that prevented power generation while spilling, outage, transmission line and dam safety vulnerabilities, considerable energy wastage accounted during planned and forced spillage. Through field inspection, data analysis, and numerical modeling, this study proposed targeted upgrading and expansion intervention solutions. These include redirecting the transmission line through a new tunnel, indoor housing of the transformers, adding two new 75 MW units, and exploring a multipurpose expansion with pumping facilities for energy dissipation. The technical results demonstrate that the proposed upgrading improves governor stability and hydraulic transients. The proposed upgrading interventions are paramount important to prevent the plant’s premature death, restore the plant’s capacity, and enhance its operational flexibility and safety. This seeks the attention of the Ethiopian government and development partners to avert the prevailing premature infrastructure, economic losses, and associated consequences.