Venezuelan public utility Edelca has awarded Alstom Hydro a EUR31 million contract to rehabilitate the generators of the Simón Bolívar-Guri hydropower plant.
The contract is part of a wider modernisation programme designed to extend the facility’s life and involves the refurbishment of five 630 MW generators at the plant’s powerhouse number 2. It is the fourth consecutive contract awarded by Edelca to Alstom, according to the French engineering firm, whose work at the site will involve the rehabilitation of stators and rotors and the supply of auxiliaries.
The modernisation of Simón Bolívar-Guri is a key part of Edelca’s plans to increase generating capacity in Venezuela. With a total installed capacity of 8850 MW, the plant is the third largest hydropower facility in the world and plays a key part in Venezuela’s power system.
Venezuela needs to install around 1000 MW of generating capacity per year over the next decade to meet growing demand.
•Alstom Hydro has also announced that it has signed a turnkey contract worth EUR43 million with the Ceylon Electricity Board for the partial rehabilitation of the Laxapana hydropower complex in Sri Lanka.
Alstom will rehabilitate two of the complex’s five power plants, Wimalasurendra and New Laxapana, in a project designed to help regulate the country’s electricity supply and meet growing energy demand. Commissioning of the upgraded equipment is scheduled for spring 2013.
Wimalasurendra’s two 26 MW Francis turbines and New Laxapana’s two 52 MW Pelton turbines will be equipped with new governing systems, control systems and regulation and brushless excitors. The Pelton turbines will be equipped with new hooped runners and their power output increased to 57 MW.
The work will be carried out during very short outage periods in order to minimise disruption to power supplies. This is of particular importance at the New Laxapana power station, which plays a key role in frequency regulation and power supply during peak demand periods, particularly in the monsoon season.
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