VA TECH HYDRO HAS announced details of three new contract wins, including news that the company was awarded the contract to modernise the Iron Gates II 216MW hydro power plant in Romania in January 2002.
Situated on the Danube, the plant is operated by Hidroelectrica, one of Romania’s main hydro power generation companies. va-tech-hydro‘s scope of works comprises upgrading the eight bulb turbine units and generators, renewal or modernisation of plant equipment, as well as installation of a new monitoring, protection and control system. After completion of the works, the plant, which is presently manned by a permanent staff, will be operated completely by remote control.
The plant modernisation is expected to improve the power grid operation in the southwest of the country, through a 15% increase in the plant’s installed capacity and the improved amount and quality of ancillary services delivered to the power system.
Another contract has been awarded to VA Tech Hydro by Eskom Peaking Generation to upgrade an existing 280MVA motor/generator with new stator core and windings at the Drakensberg pumped storage scheme in South Africa. The work will include design, fabrication, supply, installation and commissioning services, aiming to resolve inherent thermal stress and vibration problems in the original equipment.
Together with Austrian and Turkish partners, the company has also secured a contract worth US$480.5M for the Ermenek run-of-river hydro power plant in Turkey. The consortium – comprising BM Mühendislik ve Insaat, Alpine Mayreder Bau, alstom Power Austria, voith-siemens Hydro Power Generation, Verbundplan and Va Tech Hydro – will erect a turnkey power plant, including the civil works, and will supply all the machines as well as the required electrical and hydro mechanical equipment. The power plant will be equipped with two 153MW units.
The order value for VA Tech Hydro is approximately US$63.8M. The company will be responsible for the entire hydraulic steelwork, the penstocks and cranes, a part of the turbines as well as a part of the electrical equipment.
News of the these contracts follows reports that VA Tech Hydro secured five additional international orders with a total value of over US$218.4M at the end of 2001. These include: •Modernisation of Hidroelectrica’s 224MW Eisernes Tor II station in Romania. The work covers renovation of the turbines, generators and installation of new safety and automation systems.
•Construction of a new bulb turbine at Naga Hammadi power plant in Egypt.
•The supply of four generators and electrical equipment for the 1000MW Upper Gotvand hydro project on the Karun river, Iran.
•Renovation of Scottish Power’s Cruachan station in Scotland, in a consortium with ge-hydro.
•Modernisation and rehab of Eugene Water and Electric Board’s plants at Walterville and Leaburg in the US.