| Equipment
bushfire impacts over the last year and a half. There are three Snowy 2.0 TBMs, which will collectively tunnel more than 27km between Tantangara and Talbingo reservoirs. A power station with pumping capabilities will be located more than 800m below ground. The second TBMwas commissioned back in early December. Named after NSW astrophysicist and popular science communicator Kirsten Banks, TBM Kirsten is set to excavate the 2.9km emergency, cable and ventilation tunnel (ECVT), which provides alternate access to the underground power station. The 205m-long TBM will then bore the 1.4km inclined pressure shaft (IPS) and a 2.4km section of the headrace tunnel. TBM Kirsten has been specially designed to
excavate the IPS on a very steep gradient (to +47% or a 25-degree angle) so all equipment within the TBM can switch to work on the incline, and the stairways and walkways pivot to remain horizontal. The third TBM to be used at the project, which was
expected to be commissioned as we go to press, has been named Florence, after Australia’s first female electrical engineer Florence Violet McKenzie, who is best known for her contribution to women’s technical education and for creating the Women’s Emergency Signalling Corps during World War II. She taught women telegraphy so they could replace men in this civilian occupation, however, she also trained more than 12,000 servicemen in morse code.
Expanding pumped storage in the UK Back in mid 2021, Drax Group announced it had
kickstarted the planning process to expand its iconic ‘Hollow Mountain’ Cruachan Power Station. Under its plans, a 600MW power station will be located inside Ben Cruachan – Argyll’s highest mountain – and increase the site’s total capacity to 1.04GW. The new power station would be built to the east of Drax’s existing 440MW pumped storage hydro station. More than a million tonnes of rock would be excavated to create the hydro cavern and other parts of the power station. The existing upper reservoir will serve both power stations. In order to expand the project, Drax must secure consent under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 from Scottish Ministers – a process which takes around one year to complete from the application’s submission. Alongside a successful Section 36 application, the project will also require an updated policy and market support mechanism from the UK Government. The existing lack of a framework for large-scale, long-duration storage and flexibility technologies means that private investment cannot currently be secured in new pumped storage hydro projects, with no new plants built anywhere in the UK since 1984 despite their critical role in decarbonisation. The first phase of the Section 36 application process included public consultation last summer. Further consultation events were planned and an application is xpected to be submitted to Scottish Ministers this year. If it gets the go-ahead, building work on the project could start as early as 2024. Another major pumped storage project planned for the UK is Coire Glas, proposed for the shores of Loch Lochy near Invergarry, Scotland. In February, six groups were invited to submit tenders for construction of the plant. he shortlisted tenderers, who were selected following an extensive supply chain engagement
process in 2021, were split into the civil engineering and mechanical and electrical scope, and will submit their first bids in April 2022. For civil engineering they have been named as: Bechtel Ltd., Acciona Construcción S.A. and Webuild S.p.A consortium; BAM Nuttall Ltd, Eiffage Génie Civil SA and Marti Tunnel AG consortium; Dragados S.A and BeMo Tunnelling UK Ltd consortium and Strabag UK Ltd. For mechanical and electrical plant they are: Andritz Hydro GmbH and Voith Hydro GmbH & Co KG partnership; and GE Hydro France. Commencement of the ITT process, which will continue until winter 2023, enables SSE Renewables to plan engagement with businesses across the Lochaber and Highland regions to highlight the local supply chain opportunities the project will bring. The construction phase of the project is scheduled to commence in spring 2024. The tendering process will consist of two stages ahead of a final decision on whether to proceed with construction of the scheme in late 2023. The return of tenders in April will complete the first stage. At this point one tenderer will be selected for the mechanical and electrical plant scope and two tenderers for the civil engineering scope. The selected tenderers will then progress to stage two, which is planned to run from July 2022 until autumn 2023, during which time extensive ground investigation works will be undertaken across the site. This work will enable the tenderers to refine their project designs. The selection of the preferred civils tenderer, who will work with the chosen mechanical and electrical tenderer to construct Coire Glas on a turnkey basis, is scheduled for autumn 2023. ●
Below: Bilfinger is to work on the pressure piping and draft tube gates at Limberg III pumped storage plant in Austria. The prefabrication of components for the pressure piping systems is carried out in the company’s in-house production facility
www.waterpowermagazine.com | April 2022 | 11
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37
