BC Hydro has awarded a contract for work on the Bridge River Powerhouse II generator replacement programme to Voith Hydro under the two companies’ master service agreement. The power station is located on the Bridge river, a tributary of the Fraser river in British Columbia, Canada, and is of a system of three dams, four powerhouses and a canal feeding Seton lake.
To fulfill the contract, Voith will build and install new generators for units 7 and 8 at the plant, replacing the existing generators that were installed in the powerhouse in the 1940s.
“BC Hydro is pleased to be able to award Voith Hydro the contract to build and install Units 7 and 8 generators as part of our Bridge River upgrade project,” said Ken Talbot, stations projects director of project delivery, BC Hydro. “The Bridge River system is an integral part of the province’s electricity system.”
As the project contractor, Voith is responsible for all aspects of the project, from planning, design and scheduling to construction, installation and commissioning. They will consult directly with BC Hydro engineer. Through the life of the project, Voith will deliver and install a number of generator components including multi-turn coils, stators, rotors, bearings, field poles, sole plates and instrumentation.
“A key part of the scope of this project was to improve the units’ energy output,” said Eric Lamontagne, vp of account management, Voith Hydro North America. “We’re doing that with a modernised generator design and components … these improvements also help the B.C. government meet its low carbon emission goal by boosting the capabilities of its existing clean-energy generation facilities.”
The design and production of components for these units will take place in Canada, the USA and Brazil at Voith Hydro manufacturing plants. The multi-turn coil technology used in the generators exceeds Canadian Insulation Standards. After basic construction, the generators will be assembled from those components on site at Bridge River Powerhouse II.
Units 7 and 8 are high-head Pelton units located on Seton. Voith has already completed the replacements of units 5 and 6. The replacement of units 7 and 8 is expected to be complete by spring 2021.
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