At 3 a.m., the call comes in: Unit 17 needs support. The heat exchanger is clogging again.
Maiquel Antônio dos Santos, KAEFER’s Contract Coordinator at Jirau, and his team are already moving. They’ve done this dozens of times before. In the powerhouse on the left bank of the Madeira River, they implement safety lockouts, prepare tools, complete the risk analysis, and enter the confined space. The work is hot, cramped, and urgent. Every minute of reduced efficiency means lost generation capacity. Every minute counts.
This is daily life at Jirau Hydroelectric Plant, where KAEFER maintains one of Brazil’s largest renewable energy facilities in one of its most challenging environments. Located in Rondônia, 120 kilometres from Porto Velho, Jirau harnesses the flow of the Madeira River using 50 specialised bulb turbines – the most powerful ever built. Together, they generate 3,750 megawatts of clean energy for millions of Brazilians.
But the Madeira River is young, geologically speaking, and carries massive amounts of sediment and debris. Keeping those turbines running reliably is a constant battle against the elements.
From implementation to partnership: Maiquel’s journey
Maiquel’s connection to Jirau runs deep. He first arrived at the site in 2012 as part of the original implementation team, working for an assembly company during the plant’s construction phase. “I didn’t fully grasp the scale of Jirau at first,” he admits. “I imagined a common project without much complexity. But living the day-to-day, I realised that due to its magnitude, it is truly an engineering milestone.”
When he joined KAEFER in 2019, one of his first challenges was to bring the company’s services to Jirau. “After several commercial visits and presenting KAEFER’s scopes, we received our first invitation: to bid for a maintenance contract for the plant’s auxiliary systems,” he recalls. “The effort paid off. In August 2020, we secured our first contract, marking the beginning of a solid partnership full of learning.”
Today, Maiquel leads a team of 103 employees – a number that can double to 210 during high-demand maintenance periods when river levels drop and turbines must be taken offline for intervention.
The KAEFER team: Building capacity in a remote region
What motivates Maiquel most is not the technical complexity or the scale of the plant – it’s the people.
“We are talking about a remote region where skilled labour is scarce, and one of our main goals is to contribute to local development,” he explains. “It is a great challenge, no doubt, but at the same time, that is what makes everything even more special.”
Most of KAEFER’s team comes from nearby districts like Jaci Paraná and Vila Nova Mutum. KAEFER provides shuttle transportation from both locations, while some employees, including Maiquel, commute daily from Porto Velho, 120 kilometers to the north.
Life outside work is quiet. Leisure options are limited, though many employees enjoy fishing in the region’s rich river system, and Vila Nova Mutum has a club managed by Jirau Energia that offers recreation for members.
“Our team’s interaction with the local community happens naturally, as many employees are from the region itself,” Maiquel says. “This strengthens community ties and creates a sense of belonging to the project.”
When asked to describe his team in one word, Maiquel doesn’t hesitate: “Unbeatable.”
The work: Keeping 50 turbines running
KAEFER’s scope at Jirau is divided into two main contracts…
Lifting equipment operation and maintenance: KAEFER is fully responsible for scheduling, planning, team allocation, and execution of all maintenance on overhead cranes and gantries – the critical infrastructure that enables large-scale interventions inside the powerhouses.
Auxiliary equipment maintenance and major outages: KAEFER maintains pumps, filters, heat exchangers, and other auxiliary systems that support turbine operation. During major outages, planning and supervision responsibilities are shared with Jirau Energia professionals.
The work follows two patterns – scheduled maintenance and unscheduled outages.
“All machine outage scheduling is done directly by Jirau Energia in coordination with the National Electric System Operator (ONS),” Maiquel explains. “After official authorisation, our work begins.”
The process is methodical:
- KAEFER opens the work order and implements all safety lockouts with Jirau’s operations and maintenance departments
- Materials and tools are prepared in coordination with the warehouse and tool shops
- A risk analysis is completed, identifying, assessing, and mitigating hazards
- After risk control and confined space clearance, maintenance execution begins
- At completion, the area is cleaned, a checklist verifies all tools and equipment, and the machine is unlocked
- The equipment is cleared for synchronisation with the grid, coordinated by Jirau and ONS
The challenge: Working with the river
The biggest challenge at Jirau is not logistics, despite the kilometre-long powerhouses and remote location. It’s the river itself.
“The Madeira River is relatively young and does not yet have a fully defined flow,” Maiquel explains. “As a result, it carries a large amount of impurities, which can clog equipment, requiring quick interventions and sometimes causing damage that directly impacts power generation.”
The most common daily issues involve unclogging filters, cleaning heat exchangers, and maintaining open and closed-circuit pumps. “Any loss of performance in these devices directly affects the generating unit’s efficiency,” he says. “Interventions need to be fast, precise, and executed with high quality standards.”
This is where bulb turbines prove their worth. Unlike conventional turbines, bulb turbines are designed for low-head, high-flow conditions – exactly what the Madeira River offers. The generator sits inside a streamlined “bulb” positioned directly in the river flow, allowing water to pass horizontally through the assembly rather than dropping vertically like traditional hydropower.
“In run-of-river plants, the main goal is not to store large volumes of water but to continuously use the river’s natural flow, and bulb turbines are ideal for this condition,” Maiquel explains. “They offer high energy efficiency, lower environmental impact, and harmonious integration with the river’s course.”
Jirau’s 50 bulb turbines – each rated at 75 MW – are the most powerful ever manufactured, a world record that reflects both the plant’s ambition and the engineering required to make it work in the Amazon’s unpredictable conditions.
A project to be proud of
When asked about a technical achievement that stands out, Maiquel points to the adjustment of regulation rings on the left bank turbines following a design change.
“It was a complex challenge, as we had to adapt to changes in the original project concept,” he recalls. “Through implementing new methodologies and engineering solutions, we achieved significant results. The team developed several safety devices and process improvements that elevated the quality of execution.”
The project demonstrated KAEFER’s ability to deliver technical excellence even when facing unexpected design modifications.
Building more than infrastructure
For Maiquel, the work at Jirau is about more than maintaining equipment. It’s about impact.
“I have mainly learned that human capacity is incredible and immeasurable, capable of turning something so grand – often seeming unattainable on paper – into reality,” he reflects.
“As a legacy from my team, I consider it essential that everyone understands that every activity performed here aims to bring comfort, development, and quality of life to millions of people. When we do not perform our work to the best of our ability, these people can be directly affected, whether in their homes or in industries producing consumer goods.”
Jirau Energia is internationally recognised for its commitment to sustainability. According to the Hydropower Sustainability Standard, the plant achieved the second-best score worldwide among evaluated hydropower projects and the highest ranking in Brazil. Furthermore, it is one of the largest run-of-the-river hydropower plants globally, generating renewable energy and contributing to the country’s development with socio-environmental responsibility.
But for Maiquel, the most beautiful aspect is simpler: “Witnessing the region’s development, whether through training people or generating collective benefits.”
The biggest challenge? “Recruiting local labour – a significant difficulty at first but gradually overcome over time.”
Looking ahead
KAEFER’s goal at Jirau is continuity. “We have a very solid presence at the plant, based on mutual respect between client and service provider,” Maiquel says. “Our commitment is to act aligned with the client’s expectations and objectives, always striving for excellence in delivery. The goal is to perpetuate our contracts, contributing continuously and sustainably to the region’s development.”
When asked what would surprise people most about Jirau, Maiquel’s answer is immediate: “The scale of the project is hard to grasp for those who do not experience it firsthand. Outsiders often cannot imagine the size of this plant and the number of lives it positively impacts.”
Seeing the completed plant in operation, generating energy sustainably, bringing development to the region and contributing to Brazil’s growth – “that,” Maiquel says, “is a great source of pride.”
Note: Written by humans – with a little help from GenAI. This article combines human understanding and intelligent digital tools to bring KAEFER stories to life.