| Industry insight 2023 reflect and predict Hydro pros
IWP&DC asked members of the hydro industry to share their experiences from the past 12 months, and give an insight into what the new year may hold for them
and the associated potential reduction in the number of turbines can likewise lower future maintenance costs. The new development is also a winning solution for new systems, as it requires less excavation and is more compact with a smaller footprint than conventional solutions. This is also associated with a shorter installation time, which substantially reduces the overall investment costs.
Entura in 2023
Above: Dr. Norbert Riedel is the CTO of Voith Hydro
Dr. Norbert Riedel, Voith Hydro
From my perspective as CTO of one of the leading suppliers for hydropower equipment 2023 has been extremely exciting for our industry. Why is that? Well, I am very happy that the first six-nozzle horizontal Pelton machine successfully conducted its trial run in Austria at the beginning of the year. Since the early 20th century, Voith Hydro has supplied thousands of Pelton turbines in a wide range of sizes and outputs all over the world. But this one is very special. For many years, we have been conducting intensive research on the concept of multi-nozzle, horizontal Pelton units and until now, Pelton turbines with more than three nozzles have always been designed with a vertical shaft. The main reason for this was that it allowed higher efficiency than a horizontal arrangement. We have now successfully eliminated this drawback, as demonstrated in the Gerlos 1 hydropower station, where for the first time, an efficiency level comparable to that of the vertical configuration has been achieved. You can imagine how rewarding it feels to see the development of multiple years finally up and running and I can only congratulate my R&D team and our customer Verbund AG on this great milestone. The technology is of particular interest for upgrades of existing hydropower plants where single- or double-nozzle horizontal units are already installed. This is because the turbine can be replaced without major structural works, which significantly reduces civil costs and installation times. At the same time, there is enormous potential for increasing efficiency
It’s been another productive year for Entura in hydropower throughout the Indo-Pacific. With Hydro Tasmania, our consultants are helping deliver Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation vision and we’re also excited to see our clients’ hydropower projects coming to fruition, such as a landmark pumped hydro project in Queensland, a new multi-purpose dam in Samoa, and a major hydropower project in the Solomon Islands, amongst many others. A major enabler of a sustainable hydropower
future is investing in skills. Our registered training organisation, the Entura Clean Energy and Water Institute (ECEWI), has delivered targeted courses in 2023 that build capacity in the sector, with a particular focus on dam safety. Highlights included delivering tailored programmes for the Malaysian National Committee on Large Dams and the South Asia Regional Infrastructure Connectivity initiative. One of ECEWI’s expert trainers, David
Gerke – a favourite of trainees and colleagues alike – was honoured as 2023’s Professional Engineer of the Year in the Tasmanian section of Engineers Australia’s Engineering Excellence Awards. The year has also been rich in international advocacy and collaboration. Entura’s Managing Director, Tammy Chu, shared Entura’s renewable energy insights as part of an Australian Senior Business Delegation to India and at a subsequent roundtable event with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As Vice-President of the IHA, Tammy participated in the Latin American and Caribbean Roundtable on Sustainable Hydropower in Brazil and the World Hydropower Congress in Bali. Entura also joined an Australian Energy Mission to Thailand and Vietnam.
“On behalf of Entura and in my role on the IHA, I’m always eager to advance fundamental
and urgent international discussion about hydropower’s important role in fast-tracking the clean energy transition and powering sustainable growth around the world,” said Chu. “Collaboration will be key to achieving global goals.”
HR Wallingford
Events in Ukraine and Libya have perhaps been the most notable events in the dam industry during 2023 and illustrate, once again, the scale of destruction that is possible when things go wrong, says Tim Hirst, DAMSAT Business Manager at HR Wallingford in the UK. Whether dam failures are caused by humans or the weather, the end results can be just as devastating. Following the breach of the Kakhovka Dam in the Ukraine, HR Wallingford and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology were commissioned by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office to produce an impact report. Over a period of less than three weeks, the team put together a series of assessments, including the impacts to the ecology, economics, and agronomy in the area downstream of the breach. The tragedy at Derna certainly made us stop and think about the need for cost-effective monitoring, particularly in hard-to-reach areas. Disasters such as this were the reason we developed our space-based system DAMSAT. DAMSAT is an ‘eye in the sky’ that monitors dams for advanced signs of movement, and leakage. It uses a wide range of satellite-
Above: Tim Hirst, DAMSAT Business Manager at HR Wallingford, is really excited about the future for DAMSAT
www.waterpowermagazine.com | December 2023 | 33
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