Water Power and Dam Construction - Issue September 2009

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SEPTEMBER 2009

Serving the hydro industry for 60 years: 1949-2009

The rocky road to rehabilitation

Discussing dams in Ghana

Investigating new developments

in Austria and Switzerland

Alpine hydro trends

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I N T E R N A T I O N A L

& DAM CONSTRUCTION

Water Power

Editor

arrieann Stocks

Tel: +44 20 8269 7777

carrieannstocks@globaltrademedia.com

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Patrick Reynolds

Suzanne Pritchard

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Elaine Sneath

racey Honney

Advertising Sales

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Tel: +44 20 8269 7825

deodipchan@globaltrademedia.com

Tim Price

Tel: +44 20 8269 7822

timprice@globaltrademedia.com

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Natalie Kyne

Production Controller

Lyn Shaw

Commercial Director

Maria Wallace

Publishing Director

Jon Morton

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CONTENTS

COVER: Read details on

some of the latest hydro

projects under development

in the Alpine region on p10

DAM

ENGINEERING

ModernPowerSystems

COMMUNICATING POWER TECHNOLOGY WORLDWIDE

INTERNATIONAL WATER POWER & DAM CONSTRUCTION • ISSN 0306-400X Volume 61 Number 9 • SEPTEMBER 2009 3

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY

WORLD MARKETPLACE

WWW.WATERPOWE RMAGAZINE.COM

MEMBER OF THE AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION

R E G U L A R S

WORLD NEWS

DIARY

F E A T U R E S

INSIGHT

Investigating Alpine hydro trends

A review of recent developments in Switzerland and Austria

REHABILITATION

Renewing anti-corrosion protection at Wehr

The Humidur epoxy resin system was recently put to use

on a renovation project at a German pumped storage plant

Big boost for Georgia’s small hydro

The commercial viability of small hydro projects in

Georgia were investigated in an innovative new project

Rewind at Flatiron

Detailing refurbishment work at US power plant

Zooming in on condition monitoring

Can premature ageing of a hydro plant be detected from

the start of project commissioning?

DESIGN

Engineering the future – online

Profiling a new web-based engineering design service

TUNNELLING

Clearing the load at La Confluencia

Underground loaders are playing a major role in Chile

Divers control the flow

Read how a team of divers installed a new eccentric

plug valve in a 1.7m tunnel, 20m underwater

A first for Azerbaijan

The country’s first-ever TBM will be put to use on the

Samur-Apsheron irrigation project

SEISMIC ANALYSIS

Lessons learnt from the Wenchuan earthquake

Discussing the unique features and the damage caused to

dams following the 12 May 2008 earthquake in China

AFRICA

The Ghana Dams Dialogue

An independent platform has been set up in Ghana to

encourage multi-stakeholder discussions on dams

On a mission in Kenya

Chinese small hydro specialists share their experiences

of a recent consultation mission to the African country

The paper used in this magazine is obtained

from manufacturers who operate within

internationally recognised standards.

The paper is made from Elementar y Chlorine

Free (ECF) pulp, which is sourced from

sustainable, properly managed forestation.

WORLD NEWS

4 SEPTEMBER 2009 INTERNATIONAL WATER POWER & DAM CONSTRUCTION

WORLD

NEWS

WORLD

NEWS

www.waterpowermagazine.com

FATAL EXPLOSION FLOODED

the powerhouse at RusHydro’s

6.4GW Neporozhniy Sayano-

Shushenskaya hydroelectric plant in the

Russian Federation on 17 August, with 73

workers confirmed dead at the time of

going to press.

Two more workers remain missing

and are being presumed to also have

been killed by the explosion, which

would take the total number of work-

ers killed in Russia’s l arges t hydro

power scheme to 75.

Plant owner RusHy dro said the

Fatal explosion at RusHydro

plant, 3-yr rebuild expected

reconstruction and repair work at the

facil ities could take approxim ately

three years to complete, reported the

Emergency Situa tions Ministry.

RusHydro is holding discussions with

the European Bank for Reconstruction

and Development (EBRD) for a loan to

help the rebuilding work.

No official cause has yet been given

for the accident but it is understood

that there was a hyd raulic shock

focused on one of the plant’s 640MW

generating units.

Sayano-Shushenskaya is the

largest owned by RusHydro and is

located in the Republic of Khakassia,

part of th e Russi an Federation and

located in south central Siberia. The

facil ity has 10 t urbines, which were

installed over 1978-1985. The project

was completed in the late 1980s.

At the time of the accident there

were nine uni ts avail able for opera-

tions and one unit (No 6) was under-

going the last stage of a refurbishment

programme underway since January.

The total active power at the plant was

4.4GW on the day of the accident.

The Ministr y said t he explosion

was centred on generating unit No 2,

resulting in the collapse of the walls

and roof at the location.

RusHydro said a loud bang wa s

heard in the area of unit No 2 and a

column of water shot up. Emergency

syste ms acted to shut down the

plant’s output bu t structural and

ther damage by then was happen-

ing, and dozens were killed.

Water inflow to the powerh ouse

was manually stopped by closing the

emergency repair gates at the

1070m long crest of the 242m high

concrete arch gravity dam about an

hour after the explosion. The surface

powerhouse is at the foot of the dam,

which is 110m wide at the base.

With high inflows to the reservoir,

water was then spilled from the dam

with the help of a diesel generator at

a gantr y crane on the dam. There

were 11 gat es partially opened to

spill the water.

RusHydro has noted that both

units No 7 and No 9 were destroyed

by the accident , there was serious

damage to units No 1 and No 3, slight

damage to units No4, No 5, No 8 and

No 10. The idle unit, No 6, is in sat-

isfactory condition, it added. Some of

the damage to t he other units was

due to partial collapse of the power-

house building.

The 156 tonnes radial-axial tur-

bines have rotors of 6.77m diameter

nd 16 blades, are designed to oper-

ate over a head range of 175m-220m

and have rated output of 640MW. The

design flow and rotat ion speed are

358.5m

/sec and 142.8rpm, respec-

tively.

The guide vane has 20 blades with

servo-motors for each. The regulation

of the unit is designed to handle pres-

sures of 63MPa.

RusHydro despatched about 400

staff, consultant and contractor per-

sonnel to assist the Ministry’s emer-

gency ser vices’ worke rs in the

disaster recovery work.

The utility has also launched a fund

for chari table donations to the

families of the workers killed in the

accident.

PNNL awarded $6.8M for marine, river research

HE US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S

Pacif ic Northwest National

Laboratory (PNNL) will receive

more than $6.8M over the next three

years to advance the production of

marine and hydrokinetic power.

The bulk of the funding – $3.45M or

$1.15M per year – allows PNNL to lead

a project that will prioritize the risks

that these kinds of power generation

can have on the envir onment and

wildlife; conduct laboratory and field

experiments to further investigate

risks; and predict the long-term impact

of full-scale energy installations.

"This work will help remove the

roadblocks that currently prevent devel-

opers from putting tidal-, wave- and cur-

rent-powered machines in the water,”

said Charlie Brandt, director of PNNL's

Marine Sciences Laboratory in

Sequim, Washington.

Some of the issues researchers will

examine include how fish and marine

mammals are directly affected by

devices – including induced electro-

magnetic fields, noise and blade strike

- and whether producing these kinds of

power could cr eate ‘dead zones’ by

interfering with the ocean's circulation

and nutrient patterns.

Staff from PNNL's offices in Seattle,

Richland and Sequim, Washington,

and Portland, Oregon, will work togeth-

er on the project. The study will also be

done in collaboration with Oak Ridge

National Laboratory, Sandia National

Laboratories, the Northwest National

Marine Renewable Energy Center, the

University of Massachusetts-

Dartmouth and Pacific Energy

Ventures, an Oregon renewable energy

consulting firm.

DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency &

Renewable Energy also announced

that PNNL would support four other

advanced water power technology proj-

ects being led by other national labo-

ratories. For two of the projects, PNNL

will partner with the National

Renewable Energy Laboratory and

Sandia National Laboratories to use

computational fluid dynamic models to

develop and evaluate marine and

hydrokinetic power devices. PNNL will

also work with Argonne National

Laboratory on advanced water flow

forecasting to optimize the efficiency

and environmental per formance of

hydroelectric power plants.

Finally, PNNL will team with Oak

Ridge National Laboratory to increase

fish passage safety and power pro-

duction at existing dams, study how

fish and wildlife are affected by the

variable stream flows from dams, and

measure and predict greenhouse gas

emissions from dam reservoirs.

GDF Suez, E.ON finalise swap of assets, incl hydro

.ON IS TRANSFERRING 132MW

of hydro power capacity as part

of the larger asset swap deal in

Europe finalised with GDF Suez.

The deal, subject to regulator y

approvals, will see GDF Suez’s sub-

sidiary Electrabel take ownersh ip of

two pumped storage facilities and

two mini hydro plants, which are all

part of the Jansen power plant group.

The Jansen power plant group

comprises: the Reisach pumped stor-

age plant (99M W), Trausnitz plant

(1.8MW) and the Tanzmuhle facili-

ties, which include a 28MW pumped

storage unit and a 3.3MW hydro

power plant.

E.ON is und ertaking the divest-

ment to help meet European

Commission (EC) rules, and agreed

last year to assist in promoting com-

petition in the German energy market.

The total asset swap involves

1.7GW of ca pacity, the balance

involving thermal and nuclear assets.

The deal will see E.ON gain better

exposure to the Benelux market while

E.ON improves its presence in north

west Europe.

A few months ago E.ON agreed to

sell hydro assets in the Inn Valley,

southern Germany, to Austrian utility

Verbund.

The deal also g ave it long-term

access to power from the Zemm-Ziller

pumped storage plant in Austria.

WORLD NEWS

WWW.WATERPOWERMAGAZINE.COM SEPTEMBER 2009 5

In Brief

THE US FEDERAL

Energy Regulatory

Commission (FERC) has

issued support for the

636MW Smith Mountain

Pumped Storage scheme to

be relicensed with only

some modifications to

owner Appalachian Power

o’s submitted plans.

Following the Final

Environmental Impact

Assessment, and

Statement (FEIS), the

Commission’s staff

reviewed the feedback on

the draft EIS and made the

recommendation mostly

based on Appalachian

Power’s resource manage-

ment plans for the scheme.

The owner plans no new

capacity build at the

facility.

BRAZIL AND PERU

have a further round of

feasibility studies

underway on the potential

projects they could

collaborate on, in addition

to the six plants with a

total installed capacity of

6GW they are currently

working on. Reports

from the recent inter-

governmental meeting

stated that the countries

envisage construction of

more hydro power plants

– up to 15GW in 15

plants.

NEARLY 50 MINI-

hydro projects are being

proposed for the Yorkshire

region of England follow-

ing a feasibility study by

Inter Hydro Technology

(IHT). The study was

commissioned by the

Yorkshire Dales National

Park Authority (YDNPA),

which now plans to

inform landowners and

communities about the

potential projects.

Alstom, Andritz win Dagachhu equipment contract

Scottish and Southern Energy shuts

down Glendoe following rockfall

ARELY EIGHT MONTHS AFTER

generation began, Scottish and

Southern Energy (SSE) has

shut down the Glendoe hydro power

plant after a t unnel was part ly

blocked by a rockfall.

In a statement, SSE said the struc-

tural failu re in the tunnel happened

near t he top end of the headrace,

where it is fed from the reser voir. It

added that there had been no equip-

ment damage in the underground

powerhouse.

The utility refused to give further

informat ion on the ‘hugely disap-

pointing’ problem with the headrace

tunnel, except to note that investiga-

tions were underway.

Glendoe has mor e than 16km of

tunnels, excavated by two methods –

using a 5m diamete r tunnel boring

machine (TBM) and, for the majority,

drill and blast.

TBM excavation of the 6.2km long

headrace tunnel was co mpleted in

Januar y 2008, linkin g the power-

house to the reservoir area. However,

it is unclear if the rockfall in the tunnel

happened in a section bored by TBM

or in any adjoi ning section driven by

drill and blast.

Geology along the alignments com-

prises hard rock – schist and

quartzite, wi th minor faults. Lini ng

support comprised bolts , ste el rib s ,

mesh and shotcrete as required.

In the catchment above the reser-

voir site a series of drill and blast

drives were undertaken for a 6.9km

long aqueduc t tunnel, and the e xca-

vation work was completed in Spring

2008.

Fir st power was gene rated at the

100MW plant, near Fort Augustus, at

the end of last year. It is the UK’s

biggest conventional hydro plant built

in a half a centur y, and features a

35m high, 905m long CFRD dam.

The project was constructed under

a design and build con tract by

Hochtief Glendoe JV, which is led by

German contractor Hochtief and

include Poyry as the designer.

Generation plant at the project –

including a single Pelton unit – was

supplied by Andritz Hydro.

The client’s adviser is Jacobs.

JOINT VENTURE OF ALSTOM

Hydro and Andritz Hydro has

been awa rded a contract to

supply electromechanical equipment

to the Dagachhu hydroelectric project

in Bhutan.

The Euro55M (US$78.3M) contract

was awarded to the partners, working

together as Alstom Hydro Consortium

Dagachhu, by Dagachhu Hydro Power

Corp Ltd (DHPC).

Dagachhu will have an install ed

capacity of 124MW and is designed

to generate 515GWh of electricity

per year.

Alstom Hydro Austria is to supply

two 70MVA generators and also the

electrical system, including automation

and protection. Its share of the con-

tract is valued at Euro30M

(US$42.7M).

Andritz Hydro is to supply two 6-

nozzle Pelton turbines and all the

hydraulic steelwork for a 45% share of

the contract. The head at the plant, in

the southwest of the country, in

Dagana district, is 304m.

The plant is being developed for a

budget of Euro151M (US$215M) and

is due to be commissioned in 2012.

Funding is coming from Bhutan, Austria

and the Asian Development Bank.

Recently, Hindustan Construction

Co (HCC) was awarded the Lot 1 con-

tract on the project. The package

includes construction of a diversion

weir, intake, connection channel, desil-

ter, flushing channel, headrace chan-

nel, headrace tunnels, surge shaft,

pressure shaft, powerhouse and trans-

former caverns, control building and

tailrace tunnel.

Bhutan and India are jointly devel-

oping 10 hydro projects with combined

installed capacity of 11.5GW.

Siemens and Viridity Energy to

cooperate on virtual power plants

S PART OF THE MOVE TO

conver t e xisting power supply

networks into smart grids,

Siemens Energy a nd the A merican

energy service provider Viridity Energy

are to cooperate in the field of virtual

power plants.

The two companies have now con-

cluded a technology par tnership to

offer power supply companies and

network operator s the necessar y

technology for imple menting virtual

power plants.

Within the framework of this opera-

tion Siemens will increase the pres-

ence of its decentralized energy

management system DEMS in the US

market because Viridity is combining

the system with its own applications

so it can offer innovative energy solu-

tions and services in this market.

In a virtual power plant, various dis-

tributed power generation systems

such as small hydro power plants,

wind turbines, photovoltaic systems

and biogas plants are combined into a

network and controlled as a single

power plant. The core element is a

decentralized energy management

system such as DEMS.

With DEMS, distributed generating

plants can be networked into a smart

grid and operated economically with

less ecological impact. Network solu-

tions from Viridity also offer market

players functions that allow them to

manage the availability of energy in the

grid more effectively.

Viridity offer operators of distributed

power generation plants a method of

interconnecting their plants and allows

optimized operation of controllable

loads at large consumers such as uni-

versities, industrial companies and

public authorities.

Using the Siemens DEMS system,

Viridity sets up virtual power plants

adapted to the specific requirements

of the operators.

Energy effici ent and ecological

solu tions for setting up smar t grids

are par t of the Siemen s environ-

mental portfolio with which the com-

pany earned revenues of nearly

EUR19B (US$28.8B) in fiscal 2008,

equivalent to about a quarter of

Siemens’ total revenue.

WORLD NEWS

6 SEPTEMBER 2009 INTERNATIONAL WATER POWER & DAM CONSTRUCTION

ABB to link

Brazilian plants

ABB HAS SECURED A CONTRACT

to build a 2500km long HVDC

transmission line in Brazil to link

hydro power plants into the grid

in Sao Paulo.

The company received ordered

values at more than US$540M to

build the 600kV connection from

the river Madeira area, where

two major hydro power schemes

are under construction – Santo

Antonio and Jirau.

Under the contract, ABB will

supply a pair of 3150MW HVDC

converter stations plus a

800MWHVDC back-to-back

station to transmit power over

the long distance. The transmis-

sion line project is to be complet-

ed by 2012, which is when the

first bulb units of the hydro

plants are to be commissioned.

ABB was awarded the contract

by two companies in the

Abengoa Group – Inabensa, of

Spain, and Abengoa Construcao

Brasil, of Brazil.

The 3300MW Jirau project is

being built under concession by a

consortium led by GDF Suez.

Santo Antonio, which will have

an installed capacity of

3150MW, is being constructed –

also under concession – by a

consortium led by Furnas and

Odebrecht.

IVE KEY ISSUES FROM FINANCE,

grid and planning to supply chain

and Europe have been highlight-

ed in the marine energy “road map”

issued by an industry-led group in

Scotland.

In the report, the Scottish

Government is called on to review

financial support available under the

renewables obligation, to examine use

of the Fossil Fuel Levy surplus to help

renewables development, and intro-

duction of a flexible ‘use-or-lose’

annual budget allocation for develop-

ers under the Wave and Tidal Energy

Support (Wates) scheme.

The need for further progress in

infrastructure development is also

highlighted in the report, especially

with a call to Scottish Hydro-electric

Transmission to continue with design

and move to procurement for links

between Dounreay and Orkney Islands

and the Northeast Caithness coast.

The report adds that approximately

12,500 jobs could be created by

2020, and that the marine energy

investment would add £2.5B (US$4B)

to the Scottish economy.

Scotland has approximately a quar-

ter of Europe’s tidal stream energy and

10% of the wave resource, according

to the report.

The report on what is needed to fur-

ther develop wave and tidal energy in

the country was produced by the

Marine Energy Group, part of the

Forum for Renewable Energy

Development in Scotland, set up by the

Scottish Government. It is available at:

www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/

281865/0085187.pdf.

‘Road map’ issued for marine energy

atang Internation al Po wer

Generation (Datang Power)

brou ght 735MW of new hydro

power capacity into service in the first

six months of the year.

The new capacity represents just

over a quarter of the 2.65GW of total

new capacity that was commissioned

by the Chinese independent power

company in the half year to 30 June.

The majority of the new capacity in

H1-’09 was coal-fired and only

58.5MW of wind power capacity was

built.

At 30 June, Datang Power’s total

installed generating capacity was

almost 27.8GW.

Existing hydro assets include

1750MW held by Chongqing Datang

International Pengshui Hydropower

Development Co, and 152MW with

Qinghai Datang International

Zhiganglaka Hydropower Generation

Development Co.

New hydro for

Datang Power

w w w . c o y n e - e t - b e l l i e r . f r

COYNE ET BELLIER

I n g é n i e u r s C o n s e i l s

W O R L D W I D E

W A T E R D E V E L O P M E N T

D E V E L O P M E N T

W A T E R

WORLD NEWS

WWW.WATERPOWERMAGAZINE.COM SEPTEMBER 2009 7

ULL COMMERCIAL POWER

operations have begun at the

US’ first federally licensed hydro-

kinetic pow er project in Hasti ngs,

Minnesota.

During a visit to the facility on 20

August, Commissioner Philip D Moeller

of the Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission (FERC) released the brake

on a 100kW nameplate capacity hydro-

kinetic turbine manufactured by Hydro

Green Energy, allowing uninterrupted

24/7 power generation to commence.

The Hastings project is being devel-

Full operations commence at Hastings project, US

oped by the City of Hastings as a two-

turbine, barge-mounted hydrokinetic

power project downstream from its

4.4MW run-of-river hydro plant at the

US Army Corps of Engineers Lock &

Dam No 2. FERC approved the project

by a 5-0 vote on 13 December 2008.

Hydro Green has been successfully

testing and calibrating the turbine and

its power output since mid-February.

The second turbine, a beta unit with

increased power and efficiency, is tar-

geted to be installed next spring.

During his tour, Commissioner

Moeller was also briefed on the com-

pletion of the first direct fish survival

study performed on an installed hydro-

kinetic power turbine. The study was

conducted from 1-13 June 2009.

As part of this study, consulting firm

Normandeau Associates evaluated the

direct effects to fish by the hydrokinetic

unit. To accomplish this task,

Normandeau, induced 504 balloon

and radio tagged fish of a variety of

species and sizes into the hydrokinet-

ic turbine to study fish survival. The

performance of those fish was com-

pared to 250 control group fish that

experienced the full experimental pro-

cedure except for passage through the

hydrokinetic turbine. Environmental

scientists studied survival and injury

rates after recapture of nearly all the

tagged fish. Pre-installation computer

modeling indicated an estimated

97.5% survival rating for the turbine.

The results of the Hastings fish

study, presently being written, are

expected to be released to the public

for full stakeholder community review

in mid-September.

IVERBANK POWER CORPORATION

has dropped its plan to build a

1GW underground pumped stor-

age project near Sparta, New Jersey,

due to unsatisfactory rock quality.

While the Limecrest Quarry site

was one of the top develop ment

prospects, Riverbank is pursuing other

locations – es pecially at Wiscasset,

Maine, which showed good geological

results in early investigations. The US

company said poor geology below

Limecrest Quarry was disc o v e red at

depth f ollowing initial drill tests. Its

“Aquabank” standardised pumped

storage system requires a grid of tun-

nels and caverns to be excavated at a

depth of appr oximately 610m.

The underground complex would

hold both the powerhouse and the

lower reservoir of the closed loop cir-

culation system. At Sparta, the upper

reservoir was to be formed by the

flooded quarry. Riverbank announced

the project at the start of the year.

The standardised hydro concept

would call for US$2B of private invest-

ment and take four years to build.

Riverbank is supported by venture cap-

ital firm Blackrock.

The Wiscasset facility is planned to

come into service in 2014, should fur-

ther site investigation of the schist

rock, known as the Cape Elizabeth

Formation, also prove satisfactory.

The project is to be located on the

Back River near the former Maine

Yankee nuclear power plant site and

can take advantage of the 345kV

transmission infrastructure built for

that plant. Only a 4000ft (1219m) sec-

tion of new transmission line will be

needed to link the project to the exist-

ing infrastructure.

Riverbank

Power drops

Sparta plans

8 SEPTEMBER 2009 INTERNATIONAL WATER POWER & DAM CONSTRUCTION

DIARY

Let IWP&DC’s readers know about your forthcoming conferences and events.

For publication in a future issue, send your diary dates to: Carrieann Stocks, IWP&DC, Progressive Media Markets Ltd, Progressive House,

2 Maidstone Road, Foots Cray, Sidcup, Kent, DA14 5HZ, UK. Alternatively, email: cstocks@progressivemediagroup.com.

DIARY OF EVENTS

October

1-3 October

Recent Advances in Geotechnical

Engineering

isakhapatnam, India

CONTACT: Confe rence

Secr etariat, CI-Premier Pte Ltd,

150 Orchard R oad, #07-14,

Orchard Plaza, Singapore 238841.

Tel: +65 6733 2922.

Email: cipre mie@singnet.com.sg.

www.cipremier.co m.

3-8 October

Canadian Dam Association Annual

Conference

British Columbia, Canada

CONTACT: Barry Hurndall,

Canadian Dam Association, PO

Box 4490, South Edmonton Postal

Stat ion, Edmonton, Alberta,

Canada, T6E 4X7.

Tel: +1 780 432 723 6.

www.cda.ca.

12-13 October

2nd International Conference on

Long Term Behaviour of Dams

Graz, Austria

ONTACT: Prof Gerald Zenz,

Technical University of Graz.

Email: geral d.zenz@tugraz.net

www.it bd09.tugraz.at

14-15 October

British Hydropower Association

Annual Conference

Liverpool, UK

CONTACT: Ellan Parry, BHA.

12 Riverside Park, St ation Road,

Wimborne BH21 1 QU, UK

Tel: +44 12 02 880 333.

Email: info@ british-hydro.org

www.british-hydro.org.

24-25 October

4th International Conference on

Protection of Structures Against

Hazards

Beijing, China

CONTACT: Conf erence

Secretariat, CI-Premier Pte Ltd,

150 Orchard Road, #07-14,

Orchard Plaza, Singapore 238841.

Tel: +65 6733 2922.

Fax: +65 6235 3530.

Email: cipre mie@singnet.com.sg.

www.cipremier.co m.

25-27 October

In dependent Power Prod ucers of

Britis h Columb ia Annual

Conference

British Columbia, Canada

CONTACT: Independent Power

Producers Association of British

Colu mbia, 26-181 Ravine Driv e,

Port Moody, B ritish Columbia,

Canada, V3H 4T3.

Tel: +1 604 461 477 8.

www.ippbc.co m.

26-28 October

Hydro 2009

Lyon, France

CONTACT: Aqua- Media

Internationa l Ltd, 123 Westmead

Road, Sutton, Su rrey, SM1 4JH,

UK.

Tel: +44 20 8643 51 33.

Fax: +44 20 8643 8200.

edit@hydropo wer-dams.com.

Who do the World’s dam owners

call for waterway barriers?

They call Worthington

Worthington is a name you can trust for all of your

waterway barriers needs including debris and trash

barriers, heavy duty hyacinth control, boat barriers,

security barriers as well as a range of customized

solutions tailored to your project..

Our worldwide installation base includes Canada,

Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Uganda, Chile, Indonesia,

Suriname, Mozambique, Italy, Sweden, Panama,

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WWW.WATERPOWERMAGAZINE.COM SEPTEMBER 2009 9

DIARY

Let IWP&DC’s readers know about your forthcoming conferences and events.

For publication in a future issue, send your diary dates to: Carrieann Davies, IWP&DC, Progressive Media Markets Ltd, Progressive House,

2 Maidstone Road, Foots Cray, Sidcup, Kent, DA14 5HZ, UK. Alternatively, email: cdavies@wilmington.co.uk, or fax:+44 208 269 7804

DIARY OF EVENTS

November

10-11 November

Geosynthetics Middle East 2009

Dubai, UAE

CONTACT: SKZ - ConSem

GmbH, Frankfurter Straße 15-17,

D-97082 Würzburg, Germany.

Tel: +49 931 4104-436.

Fax: +49 931 4104-277.

Email: i.bender@skz.de.

www.skz.de.

25-28 November

1st International Exhibition on

Mini Hydro-Electric Power

Milan, Italy

CONTACT: Cristina Migliol i,

Artenergy Srl, Via Gramsci 57, I-

20032 Cormano (MI), Italy.

Tel: +39 02 6630 6866.

Fax: +39 02 6630 5510.

Email: info@greenergyexpo.eu.

cristina.miglioli@zeroemission.eu

www.greenergyexpo.eu.

December

2-4 December

8th International Conference on

Shock and Impact Loads on

Structures

Adelaide, Australia

CONTACT: Conference

Secretariat, CI-Premier Pte Ltd, 150

Orchard Road, #07-14, Orchard

Plaza, Singapore 238841..

Tel: +65 6733 2922.

Fax: +65 6235 3530.

Email: cipre mie@singnet.com.sg.

www.cipremier.co m.

February 2010

16-17 February

4th Renewable Ener gy Finance

Forum - Central and Eastern Europe

Prague, Czech Republic

CONTACT: Euromoney Energy

Events Ltd, Nestor House, Playhouse

Yard, London, UK, EC4V 5EX.

ax: +44 20 7779 8946.

energyevents@euromoneyenergy.com.

25-28 February

International Power Summit 2010

London, UK

CONTACT: VIBevent s, Brunel

House, 55-57 North Wharf Road

London, W2 1LA.

Tel: +44 20 7753 42 68.

Fax: +44 20 7753 4247.

Email: event s@VIBevents.com.

www.internationalpowersummit.com

April 2010

7-9 April

3rd Interna tional Conferenc e on

Problematic Soils

Adelaide, Australia

CONTACT:

Conference Secretariat,

CI-Premier Pte Ltd,

150 Orchard Road, #07 -14,

Orchard Plaza,

Singapore 238841,

Tel: +65 6733 2922.

Fax: +65 6235 3530.

Email: cipre mie@singnet.com.sg.

www.cipremier.co m.

March 2010

7-9 April

HydroVision Russia

Moscow, Russia

CONTACT:

Mathil de Sueu r, Confer ence

Manager, PennWell.

Tel: +44 1992 656 634.

Fax: +44 1992 656 735.

mail: mathildes@pennwell.com.

www.hydrovision-russia.com.

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10 SEPTEMBER 2009 INTERNATIONAL WATER POWER & DAM CONSTRUCTION

INSIGHT

HE Alps were the cradle of modern

hydro production in Europe. The

plants installed in the 900km arc of

mountain ranges from the French

Mediterranean coast to eastern Austria

helped power Europe’s industrial expansion.

Today the pan-European demand for peak

and balancing energy, triggered by market

liberalisation and the growth of renewables,

has brought fresh impetus to Alpine hydro.

In Switzerland – where hydro already gen-

erates over half the 66,000GWh annual

output – work has just begun on the

660MW Nant de Drance underground

pumped storage power station, while Austria

has announced ambitious plans to expand

its hydro sector.

With 105 hydro plants prod ucing

10BkWh/year, the Alpine canton of Valais

generates 30% of national output. The first

Valais concession dates back to 1891, while

a second wave o f expansion fro m the

1950s-70s saw the completion of landmark

projects such as Grand Dixence, Mauvoisin,

Mattmark and the two Emosson dams that

will serve Nant de Drance. Modern Valais

plants inc lude Cleuson-Dixe nce, built by

Alpiq and Dixence in the ‘90s, which can

feed the capac ity of a nuclear plant into

Swissgrid’s high-voltage netwo rk within

three minutes. The underground station’s

1200MW Bieudron power plant – offline

since Decem ber 2 000 following an acci-

dent – features the world’s most powerful

Pelton turbi ne.

ANT DE

RANCE

The Federal Environment Ministry licensed

the EUR650M (US$9.3M) Nant de Drance

project in August 2008. Located between

the towns of Martigny and Chamonix in

Valais, Nant is a joint venture between

Swiss utility Alpiq (54%), Federal Swiss

Railways SBB (36%) and municipal u tili-

ty FMW (10%). The Valai s power suppli-

er joined the con sortium in June 2009,

using i ts powers under a local wa ter law

to invest in any new hydro concessions

within th e canton.

Atel (fore runner of Alpiq) and SBB first

applied to licence Nant in summer 2006.

Then the cost estimate was a more modest

EUR500M (US$695M). SBB came close to

abandoning the project as raw material and

construction costs soared over the next 18

months. One condition of th e build and

operate deal creating the Nant de Drance

company, agreed in November 2008

between the then joint partners, wa s the

need to rei n in building and engineering

costs before work began.

The plant is scheduled to come on-line in

stages from 2015, with a maximum

1500GWh annual output of peak load elec-

tricit y – enough to cover demand from

600,000 homes. The 380k V grid running

from Chatelard through the Rhone valley

will also be modernised and extended

ahead of Nant’s completion, although this

project has met with resis tance from local

residents’ groups.

The co ntract for construction work on

Nant went to Groupement Marti Implenia

(GMI). The powerhouse will be built almost

entirely underground in a cavern between

two existing re servoirs, Emos son (1930m

altitude) and Vieux Emosson (2205m alti-

tude), on land belonging to the Valais border

municipality Finhaut. A 5.6km long gallery

will access the cavern at 1700m altitude in

the Lower Valais.

Alstom has won a EUR125M (US$174M)

contract to equip the new station, installing

four 157MW vertical Francis reversible tur-

bines and four 170MVA vertical asynchro-

nous motor/generator units in a 100m x

40m machine hall. The set-up integrates

two state-of-the-art technologies, with the

variable speed pump regulating the

amount s of energy used during conven-

tio nal pumping. The efficiency of the sta-

tion will exceed 80%.

Investigating Alpine

hydro trends

Simon Jones takes a

look at some recent

developments in hydro

power in Switzerland

and Austria

Tunnelling work on the Nant de Drance pumped storage project