Operation & maintenance | Equipment updates
Upgrade and modernisation work has been carried out on equipment at existing hydroelectric projects across the globe, while new projects have seen their equipment placed into operation
VOITH HYDRO RECENTLY ANNOUNCED it has successfully completed modernization work on South Africa’s second largest pumped storage facility – the 1000MW Drakensberg power station – with work carried out under pandemic conditions. The company modernised three generators after
Below: Generator at Drakensberg power station. Image courtesy of Voith Hydro
receiving an order covering design, installation and commissioning back in 2016. A special feature of the project was that all works were carried out during normal plant operation of the customer, ESKOM. The project utilised a special technical concept for the modernisation, which improved the performance of the machines through selected measures. The generators in the power plant, which has been in operation since 1981, are now designed for another 40 years of operation. “We were able to reduce the operating temperatures and vibrations of the machines, so that their lifetime has been significantly increased,” explained Anton Harris, Managing Director at Voith Hydro in South Africa. “We reacted quickly and accessed the experts at the headquarters in Heidenheim, who would originally have been on site, via remote support.” This success was mainly based on the international cooperation between the local team in Johannesburg and the engineering department at the headquarters in Germany. Drakensberg has a total installed capacity of 1000MW and is built completely underground. Only shafts and transmission lines can be seen on the surface whereas the four reversible pump turbines are placed approximately 52 floors below ground. Just under a year after the commissioning of the first unit, all units are now connected to the grid and in commercial operation. Earlier in June, Voith also announced that it had been awarded the contract for upgrade of Contact Energy’s Roxburgh Hydropower Plant in New Zealand.
Contact is looking to increase its generation output using the same water flow by replacing four turbines with a more efficient and modern design. Under the contract, signed back in May, Voith Hydro
will be responsible for engineering, scale model testing, manufacturing, installation and commissioning of the four new turbines with 40MW capacity each. The hydraulic model testing of the turbine was done at Voith Hydro’s facilities in York, US, in August 2021. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2024 and will support New Zealand’s ambitious goals to lower carbon emissions. The project will be executed in a collaboration between Voith Hydro engineering centers in the US, Germany and India, and the new turbines will be manufactured at Voith Hydro’s manufacturing facility in Vadodara, India. The site works will be performed by local construction workers from a New Zealand-based subcontractor. Mike Fuge, CEO of Contact Energy, said the project was good news for the local economy as well. “We expect Voith will supplement its international experts with local construction workers and NZ-based contractors, which is positive news for the local Alexandra and Roxburgh communities,” said Fuge. “Projects like these will have real, tangible effects for our local communities.” Contact Energy is the second-largest electricity generator with the second-largest market share as an electricity retailer in New Zealand. It is implementing an ambitious hydro turbine refurbishment program by 2030 for its two hydropower plants in operation in South Island as part of the company strategy to increase renewable generation.
Rehab at Kopli Indian utility North Eastern Electric Power Corporation
Ltd (NEEPCO Ltd) has contracted Andritz to carry out complete rehabilitation of the electro-mechanical equipment at the 200MW Kopili hydropower plant on the Kopili River in Assam, India.
Andritz’s scope of supply includes detailed design and engineering, manufacture, transportation to the project site, supervision of the assembly, erection, testing as well as commissioning of the entire electro-mechanical equipment to be installed in the powerhouse of Kopili hydroelectric plant. Also included is the training of NEEPCO’s personnel in design, engineering, operation, and maintenance of the plant. The rehabilitation works will be executed by the India hydro subsidiary of Andritz with its manufacturing facilities in Mandideep (near Bhopal) and Prithla (near Faridabad). This contract is the second awarded to Andritz by NEEPCO, the first being the supply of the complete electro-mechanical equipment for the 110MW Pare hydropower project.
24 | October 2021 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
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 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53
