| Modernisation


key priorities. In the long term, the company focuses on renewable energy sources, sharing the general trend towards making future projects as eco-friendly as possible,” said Evgeny Fyodorov, Nornickel’s Vice President for Energy.


Since 2012, when the company adopted


a resolution on large-scale reconstruction of UstKhantayskaya’s generating capacities, seven hydroelectric units have now been fully replaced at Russia’s northernmost hydropower plant. Nikolay Shulginov, Russian Minister of Energy, said: “With the upgrade comes higher capacity and performance efficiency for the station, and what is even more important: better reliability of the whole plant and the region’s power grid. The team has worked in the harsh climate of the Arctic at a running facility and used unique technology and equipment from domestic manufacturers”. The upgrade helped increase the capacity of UstKhantayskaya HPP from 441MW to 511MW. The seven replaced hydroelectric units had been in operation for around 50 years and now have an installed capacity of 73MW instead of the previous 63MW, with an efficiency factor of almost 95%. Nornickel has reconstructed the main generator hall and electrical shop, built a new compressor station, and introduced a new automated dispatch system. Investments in the modernisation of generating equipment totalled around RUB 7.5 billion. Meanwhile, the En+ Group has been modernising hydraulic units at the Bratsk Hydropower Station on the Angara River in Russia as part of its New Energy programme


Bratsk has 18 hydro turbine impellers which have been undergoing a three-stage modernisation programme. Within the first stage from 2004 to 2010, hydraulic units 13-18 were rebuilt with an improved turbine energy conversion efficiency to 95.3%. From 2014 to 2017, six further impellers were


replaced at hydraulic units 6-10 and 12. All twelve impellers installed during the first two phases of the modernisation programme have already demonstrated their capacity for boosting efficiency and their


modernisation has led to increased electric power production without an increase in water consumption. The remaining six impellers will be replaced within


the third stage of modernisation which began in 2021 and will cost RUB 1.5 billion. Work on the impellers was expected to continue until the end of the year. Mikhail Khardikov, Head of En+ Group’s energy business, said: “Modernising hydroelectric stations is important not only for a secure and uninterrupted energy supply, but all also to boost the station’s efficiency. As we continue with the implementation of the New Energy programme, we will achieve the best long term efficiency metrics in the industry. The New Energy Programme also has a positive ecological impact: as of 2022, the hydropower station will be generating an additional 2 billion kWh of energy from the same volume of water.” The New Energy programme is being implemented at En+ Group’s hydropower plants on the Angara- Yenisei cascade (Ust-Ilimsk, Bratsk, Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk). Upgraded equipment at the stations increased capacity by 1712.1kWh in 2020 year-on- year, reducing emissions as hydroelectric power replaced the capacity previously generated by coal-fired power plants. Investment in the New Energy programme will amount to RUB21 billion by 2026.


Mexican modernisation Andritz has announced it has been contracted –


alongside three local companies – to modernise and upgrade nine hydropower stations in Mexico. Together with GENERMEX, Hydroproject and SEISA, the company was selected for the major contract by Mexico’s national utility, Comisión Federal de Electricidad. The scope of supply includes design, manufacturing, supply, transportation, erection, testing and commissioning of 29 generators, 17 turbines, 21 transformers, turbine governors, SCADA system, control, excitation and protection systems, as well as the electrical power and associated auxiliary systems. The contract was scheduled to begin in December 2021 with commissioning completed in February 2027. ●


www.waterpowermagazine.com | January 2022 | 23


Above: Saskatchewan River in Canada


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