American Hydro, part of Wärtsilä Corporation, is to complete the upgrade and refurbishment of two turbines at Ameren Corporation’s historic Keokuk Hydroelectric plant in Iowa, US.
American Hydro designed, manufactured and delivered new 200-inch, 120,000-pound Francis type runners for Unit 5 and 15 under a previous contract. The new contract includes all field labor and supervision to conduct a simultaneous two-unit outage, disassembly of the major turbine and generator components, shop and field rehabilitation and machining, installation of the new runners and refurbished turbine components, and commissioning of the upgraded turbines.
Engineering and planning are currently underway on the project, and the outages are scheduled to start this autumn and finish in the spring of 2021. Upon completion of this work, American Hydro will have upgraded all 15 turbines at the Keokuk plant.
The 142 MW Keokuk hydroelectric plant was originally commissioned in 1913 and has been in continuous operation with the original equipment since that time. It is the largest privately owned and operated dam and hydroelectric generating plant on the Mississippi River. The plant is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as Lock and Dam No. 19.
