Client Background

Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) operates one of Africa’s largest wind farms, with 365 turbines spread across 40,000 acres in Kenya. The farm supplies about 11% of Kenya’s electricity demand, making it a cornerstone of the country’s renewable energy future. As one of the largest renewable energy projects in Africa, LTWP plays a pivotal role in shaping the country’s energy landscape. Their operations are crucial to the nation’s electricity supply and, thus, the need for high efficiency and reliability is paramount.

Source: https://ltwp.co.ke/

Business Challenges

Managing such a large-scale wind farm operation came with its own set of complexities:

  • Asset Tracking and Digitization: With over 1,500 critical assets to manage, the absence of a digital system made it difficult to maintain accurate records and quickly identify performance issues.
  • Operational Inefficiencies Due to Lack of Automation: Without automation, managing workflows such as work order generation, material requests, and asset tracking was time-consuming, leading to delays in addressing critical tasks and suboptimal performance.
  • Manual Inventory Management Affecting Maintenance Readiness: Managing more than 3,000 inventory items manually, without real-time visibility into stock levels, often resulted in either stock shortages or excess materials, impacting maintenance schedules and performance.
  • Inefficiencies in Operations and Sustainability Alignment: The heavy reliance on outdated and fragmented workflows created a disconnect with LTWP’s sustainability objectives, leading to inefficiencies, delays, and unnecessary resource wastage, undermining efforts to maintain eco-friendly practices.
  • Audit and Compliance Challenges: Manual tracking of maintenance and inventory activities complicated audit readiness and made compliance reporting time-consuming and error-prone
  • Scalability and System Flexibility: LTWP needed a system that could grow with their evolving needs and support future operational enhancements without requiring complete overhauls.

These operational challenges made it difficult for LTWP’s management team to prioritize tasks and make timely decisions, increasing the risk of delays and inefficiencies.

Implementation

Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) selected eFACiLiTY® Enterprise Asset Management Software (EAM/CMMS) for its robust capabilities in managing a wide range of facility and operational assets. The software helps optimize asset performance, streamline maintenance, and enhance overall operational efficiency. It supports LTWP by providing a comprehensive solution that meets its needs across wind power infrastructure and beyond:

This streamlined process tracks and routes issues, enhancing the overall efficiency of the helpdesk operation. eFACiLiTY®‘s reporting and analytics enable ongoing optimization, identifying recurring issues for proactive measures, and improving service quality and response times.

The eFACiLiTY® Smart Facility App makes it simple for users to submit helpdesk requests while enabling technicians to efficiently handle work orders, report requirements, verify asset information while on the go, access asset histories, and swiftly address priority support calls.

  • Workorder Management: Automated scheduling, tracking, and completion of maintenance tasks, ensuring clear visibility into ongoing and upcoming work. Centralizing work orders on a single platform enabled timely task completion, directly reducing downtime.
  • Inventory Management: Real-time tracking of spare parts and consumables, allowing proactive management of inventory levels. This ensured the right parts were always available, minimizing delays and enabling quick repairs.
  • Centralized System: eFACiLiTY® integrated asset tracking, work order management, and inventory management into one platform, eliminating inefficiencies and providing LTWP’s team with the tools to prioritize and execute tasks confidently.
  • Audit & Compliance: Automated tracking of maintenance and inventory activities ensured quick access to accurate data for audits, streamlining compliance and reporting processes and ensuring regulatory requirements were met with ease.

By implementing eFACiLiTY®, LTWP streamlined its operations, minimized downtime, and significantly improved the overall efficiency of its wind farm operations.

At Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP), we are committed to driving green energy innovation in Kenya. Managing over 3,000 assets, our operations are critical to ensuring the efficient collection and distribution of electricity from 365 wind turbines spanning 40,000 acres.  

To streamline asset management and enhance operational efficiency, we have successfully implemented SIERRA’s eFACiLiTY® for our substation and collector network infrastructure—a vital hub that consolidates and transmits power from our wind farm. 

With eFACiLiTY®, we have fully digitized our substation equipment and overhead power collector network automating critical processes such as work order generation, material requests, and asset management. The implementation was completed in just three weeks, ensuring a smooth and efficient go-live that has enhanced our overall operations. The system seamlessly integrated into our operations, significantly enhancing efficiency, streamlining inventory tracking, and reducing reliance on manual paperwork—all while supporting our sustainability objectives.

Beyond improving daily workflows, eFACiLiTY® has strengthened our audit and tracking capabilities, ensuring greater compliance, transparency, and IT security. The support from SIERRA was instrumental in the fast implementation and seamless integration, and we look forward to leveraging additional modules to further enhance our operations at LTWP.

– Max Schiff, Chief Executive Officer, Lake Turkana Wind Power

 

 

BENEFITS

Following the deployment of eFACiLiTY®, Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) experienced significant improvements, which directly addressed the challenges they faced:

  • End-to-End Digitization: Substation and power collector network infrastructure fully digitized for streamlined asset management.
  • Improved Operational Efficiency: Automation of critical workflows such as work order generation, material requests, and asset tracking.
  • Rapid Implementation: Fast deployment completed in just 3 weeks with minimal disruption to ongoing operations.
  • Seamless Integration: Smooth adoption into existing operations with no major process overhauls required.
  • Enhanced Inventory Management: Streamlined tracking of materials and spare parts, minimizing delays and inefficiencies.
  • Reduced Paperwork: Significant drop in manual paperwork, aligning with LTWP’s sustainability goals.
  • Increased Auditability and Compliance: Strengthened audit trails and compliance readiness with comprehensive tracking features.
  • Improved IT Security: Enhanced controls and transparency in maintenance operations with secure digital records.
  • Support for Sustainability Objectives: Digital shift contributes to eco-friendly, paperless operations aligned with green energy principles.
  • Scalability for Future Growth: Foundation laid for adopting additional modules to further enhance operations.

These outcomes not only enhanced operational efficiency but also empowered the management team to focus on strategic decision-making, rather than getting bogged down by administrative complexities. The system provided the tools needed to improve responsiveness, transparency, and overall productivity.

Lake Turkana Wind Power’s collaboration with eFACiLiTY® demonstrates how tailored asset management software can turn complex operational challenges into streamlined workflows. Automating work order and inventory management has helped LTWP increase operational resilience, enhance sustainability, and boost overall productivity.

See eFACiLiTY® in Action

Watch the video to discover how eFACiLiTY® transformed operations at Lake Turkana Wind Power, optimizing asset management, reducing downtime, and improving overall efficiency across Africa’s largest wind farm.

Hashtags

#WindFarmSoftware #AssetManagementKenya #EAMforWindFarms #RenewableEnergySoftware #WindTurbineMaintenance #FacilityManagement #WindEnergy #WindFarm #AssetManagement #RenewableEnergy #WorkOrderManagement #InventoryManagement #eFACiLiTY