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backup energy source for the water treatment plant and will help in assuring the Reno-Sparks community a supply of high-quality drinking water.” The project’s final design began in early 2022, with an estimated completion date of late 2023.
Canada Hydro-Québec starts Trenche refurbishment studies Plans for the refurbishment of the 302MW Trenche hydroelectric facility on the Rivière Saint-Maurice in Haute-Mauricie, Quebec, have taken a step forward as Hydro-Québec confirms it is undertaking the studies associated with the draft-design phase of the project, which will continue until 2024. The project’s main goal is to increase the
Trenche facility’s service life while ensuring electricity generation, public safety and regulation of the flow of the Rivière Saint- Maurice. “This generating station is the largest generation facility in the Mauricie region,” noted Jean Matte, Acting Chief Innovation Officer and Executive Vice President – Generation, Health, Safety and Environment. “The refurbishment of the six generating units will increase the installed capacity by 48MW, without changing how the Rivière Saint-Maurice is managed.” “The draft-design phase will ensure that all the conditions to guarantee the success of the refurbishment—planned for 2026—will be met, following approval by Hydro-Québec management. The teams currently deployed at Rapide-Blanc will contribute to these key steps to ensure the work proceeds smoothly,” added Carl Morin, Manager – Generation Facility Projects in the Mauricie region. The draft-design phase aims mainly to:
● Coordinate all resources and studies required to define the technical content, constraints, permitting requirements and impacts on the biophysical and host environment
● Conduct field tests ● Develop project execution strategies ● Identify and manage risks ● Plan and develop project estimates ● Consult local and Indigenous communities so that the best and most socially acceptable decisions are made
The top priority will be to carry out the work in compliance with health and safety standards while minimizing the impact on the facility’s operation.
In addition to Hydro-Québec’s teams, an engineering firm, laboratories and specialized contractors will also be called upon to carry out these activities. Structural, mechanical, control, electrical equipment, hydraulic, hydrological, geological, geotechnical, construction method, materials, environmental and health and safety engineers, technicians and specialists will supervise the work. As part of its projects, Hydro-Québec
implements public participation programs to maintain an ongoing dialogue with host communities, various community groups and users of the territory. Meetings will take place with representatives from La Tuque and Wemotaci, or with people who could be directly affected by the work, to ensure that the best and most socially acceptable decisions are made. “With the information gathered from studies
and tests, we will consult those directly affected in various ways in order to establish the best strategies to complete the project and which mitigation measures should be implemented. The input received will allow us to propose various initiatives relative to identified concerns and issues and adjust the project from a technical, environmental and social perspective,” added Caroline Belley, Manager – Projects. “I applaud Hydro-Québec’s respectful
approach to working with communities during this phase of preliminary project studies. The refurbishment of the Trenche facility is part of the Government of Quebec’s green energy development strategy. Let us recall here the importance of developing renewable energy sources as we move towards the electrification of our economy,” said Marie-Louise Tardif, Member of Parliament for Laviolette–Saint- Maurice. “The refurbishment of the facility will help us meet the needs of future generations with clean, renewable and reliable energy. In the scenarios being studied, we also want to increase the evacuation capacity for the passage of a probable maximum flood in the spring to take climate change into account,” concluded Jean Matte. Trenche generating station, located in La
Tuque on the Rivière Saint-Maurice between Rapide-Blanc and Beaumont generating stations, was commissioned in the 1950s. It is made up of six generating units and the drop in water levels is 48.7m. With its installed capacity of 302MW, the generating station supplies about 109,000 homes. Once refurbished, the installed capacity will be 350MW.
El Salvador
El Chaparral works enter final stage Work on the El Chaparral hydroelectric project in northeastern El Salvado is almost finished, contractor Rodio Swissboring has announced. The company – a subsidiary of Soletanche Bachy – has been carrying out specialist work to finish the project. Works include the construction of the grout curtain, drainage system and dam instrumentation which have been carried out in conjunction with Rodio Kronsa with support from Sixense. Also, the project called for the construction of a rockfill dyke and a plastic concrete diaphragm wall on the right abutment of the dam, as well as waterproofing and additional works in the intake of the project, carried out with the support of Carpi.
To date approximately 130,000m3 of
compacted infill material has been removed, to construct the lateral closing dyke of the dam. This dyke is built on a screen of plastic concrete of almost 10,000m2
.
The civil engineering works at the base of the Load Chamber and the waterproofing of that chamber, work done in JV with Carpi, are also in their final phase, bringing to date a total of 7500m2
of membrane put in place with only the geomembranes on the floor still to be installed. For the waterproofing grouting, drainage and instrumentation in the dam being done in JV with Rodio Kronsa, to date a total of approximately 34,000 perforated linear metres have been completed and 265,000kg of cement injected. This work is also in its final stage, with mainly the instrumentation work now being done, with the support of Sixense.
Norway
Cloudberry adds more hydro to its portfolio
Cloudberry Clean Energy has announced it has secured the Øvre Kvemma Kraft and Tinnkraft hydropower plants in Norway, with the two facilities to produce 25 GWh in full production. “We are pleased to add further hydro power
production to our rapidly increasing portfolio,” said Anders Lenborg, CEO of Cloudberry. “With a sharp increase of new wind power production from our portfolio coming on grid over the next years, we are especially happy to add hydro production to our portfolio, within our return expectations, in attractive price areas.” Øvre Kvemma, developed by NGK Utbygging
AS (NGKU), is situated in Lærdal municipality, in the NO5 price area. The estimated, annual power production is 19.4GWh. The transaction will be closed once the power plant is completed during H1 2024, and after a commissioning period.
Suna Alkan, Head of Sustainability at Cloudberry, said the project fits well into the company’s portfolio, with the project having limited impact on biodiversity and nature as 80% of its waterways will be built underground. There will also be limited construction of new roads, as existing roads previously built for cabins and farms in the area will be utilised. NGKU has developed the project and will
be responsible for the project realization. NGK Utbygging AS is a specialized small hydro construction company, with experience from having successfully constructed a more than 40 small hydro power plants. Tinnkraft is located in Tinn municipality, in the attractive NO 2 price area. The annual average power production is 6.3 GWh. “Tinnkraft has a proven production record since it was connected to the grid in 2010. The fall lease agreement has a duration of 60 years from 2022. Ongoing revision of water regulation upstream the hydropower plant gives a potential for increased production in the future,” Jon Gunnar Solli, COO of Cloudberry, said.
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