A logistic operation involving the delivery of the heaviest hydraulic power unit wheels in the history of Russian hydraulic power engineering has been successfully completed, Power Machines has announced.
The wheels arrived at EuroSibEnergo’s Krasnoyarsk hydropower plant on 28 September, after travelling from Saint Petersburg.
The wheels were produced at the Leningradsky Metallichesky Zavod (Leningrad Metals Plant), a member of the PJSC Power Machines, and were shipped in late August. The weight of each wheel is 244 tons, and the diameter is 8.5m.
The barge bearing the hydraulic power equipment passed through the White Sea - Baltic canal, the White, Barents, and Kara Seas, and fially reached the quay near the Krasnoyarsk hydropower plant by the Yenisei. The voyage was more than 6,000 km.
The first modernized hydraulic power unit with a new wheel is to be put into operation in April 2018, with the second one expected to enter service in January 2019.
The hydroturbines with new impellers, whose production qualities have been confirmed during simulation tests, are more effective than the turbines currently installed at Krasnoyarsk, due to their inbuilt innovative rotary-vane system, which enables the modernised turbines to ensure efficient and stable production.
The upgrade of the impellers at Krasnoyarsk is part of EuroSibEnergo's 'New Energy' programme, a comprehensive initiative to modernise the Company's hydropower facilities. Currently, new impellers and other modernised equipment are also being installed at Bratsk and Ust-Ilimsk projects, while in September 2018, the company plans to select a contractor to provide new turbines for the Irkutsk plant.
