Power Machines has announced it has completed the installation of the hydrogenerator rotor on hydropower unit 2 at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower project, the final unit to be refurbished following the accident at the Russian project in August 2009.
The rotor - the heaviest component at 900 tonnes -was installed into the crater of hydropower unit 2. After connecting all rotating components and checking their parameters, Power Machines' engineers can proceed with preparing the unit for commissioning and startup.
Among previous work on the hydropower unit, building structures were restored, turbine components and a gas-insulated generator circuit breaker installed, and a generator stator assembled. At present, an additional examination of the turbine flow path (spiral case and penstock) is coming to an end, automated control and governing, oil and water supply, fire-fighting and service water systems are being installed, and also a pedestal and generator bearing are being assembled. Once all installation work on the hydropower unit is done, a full set of commissioning tests will be conducted to demonstrate that it is ready for load operation.
There are currently nine new hydropower units in service at Sayano-Shushenskaya, whose total capacity is 5760 MW. Hydropower units 3 and 4 were put into service this year, with Unit 2 due to start up at the end of 2014 as specified in the plant overhaul schedule.
Once overhauled, Sayano-Shushenskaya will be fully fitted with completely new and advanced high-performance equipment, meeting all safety and security requirements, said Power Machines. The service life of the new units has been extended up to 40 years with the maximum efficiency of the hydro turbine equal to 96.6% and its power performance improved. The turbines are also fitted with a more efficient process protection system that ensures automatic shutdown in case of unacceptable deviations in monitored parameters.
