Hydro-Québec has awarded Voith a major contract for the update of an 80 year-old power station in Québec, Canada.
Voith will install new turbines, generators and digital governors, and refurbish embedded turbine components, at the Rapide-Blanc generating station on the Saint-Maurice River in Northern Québec.
The station’s initial construction began in 1930 and was completed in 1934. All of the six units at the station will be replaced. Four of the existing turbines were installed in 1934, which means that by the time the project is complete in 2025 those units will have been in service for 90 years.
The contract for the new units calls for a complete replacement of removable turbine and generator parts, the refurbishment of all embedded components and installation of digitally-controlled governor units. The new units will also be more efficient and allow production of approximately 10% more energy with the same amount of water. The components will be designed to last at least 70 years.
The project includes manufacturing work in Ontario, Pennsylvania and Quebec, and the initial engineering activities have been underway since January 2019. Voith’s North American headquarters in York, Pennsylvania, will build the new runners whereas the generator coils will be manufactured in Mississauga, Ontario. Engineering and support functions are underway in Brossard, in York and in Vasteras, Sweden. The site work and assembly will then begin in 2021 and, after commissioning, the contract is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
