Passion for Hydro

The efficient cooperation of all team members guarantees a smooth installation of a project. All involved people have to work together to achieve a common goal, installation of the top-tier ANDRITZ equipment. The picture shows the working team of ANDRITZ on site of Rio Amoya in Colombia inspecting the newly installed runner for the Pelton unit. ANDRITZ has been active in Colombia for more than a century, supplying or rehabilitating and commissioning numerous hydropower plants, representing about 77 % of the country`s total installed hydro capacity. 

To regulate the water level for safety and operation issues water has to be drained through the spillway gates from time to time. The picture shows the spillway flow of Tsankov Kamak hydropower plant in Bulgaria, the first hydropower plant erected under the Kyoto-Protocol-joint-implementation-project, operating with top tier ANDRITZ equipment.

In Ravensburg, Germany, at ANDRITZ’ top modern manufacturing facility heavy-duty parts are being fully automatically coated using the HVOF^*) technology. In this case the Kaplan runner blade for Gulpur, Pakistan were coated with a hard tungsten carbide coating (SXH) to minimize the erosion from the high silt load of the Poonch River.

_{*) HVOF: High-Velocity-Oxygen-Fuel}

Guide vanes are fixed grooves in turbines that help direct the water around bends at maximum efficiency. While the runner increases or decreases the flow of the water the guide vanes ensure that it passes evenly and as smoothly as possible. Hence, the guide vane apparatus is an essential part of the turbine to control the power output and the efficiency. The picture shows the colorful guide vane of Limberg 1, Kaprun, Austria, part of the Kaprun power plant group of storage power plants.

The installation of a generator rotor requires absolute precision, there are only a few millimeters tolerance to avoid damage to the equipment. The picture shows the lowering of generator at Tres Irmãos on the river Tietê, Brazil. ANDRITZ executed a contract to retrofit one out of five generators, to repair a runner and to install a new HIPASE excitation system. Três Irmãos is the largest hydropower plant on the river with a total installed capacity of 807.5 MW.

Sunrise outside main site at Muskrats Falls in Canada, with 5,428 MW an important supply of renewable energy for the country. The Muskrat Falls hydroelectric development project includes a generating station, located on the lower Churchill River, approx. 35 km west of Canadian Happy Valley-Goose Bay in Labrador, as well as more than 1,500 km of transmission lines and associated infrastructure. ANDRITZ supplied electrical and mechanical equipment as well as gates, spillways and draft tubes for the hydropower plant.

Runner hub inspection for one of the big Kaplan turbines intended for Xayaburi run-of-river hydropower plant in Lao PDR. Not only the runner hub is a big boy, Xayaburi houses seven 175 MW Kaplan turbines with the world’s largest oil-free Kaplan runners to date. Xayaburi is the largest hydropower plant in Lao PDR and one of the largest on the Mekong River producing about 7,300 GWh of clean and sustainable energy per year.

View into a filter element at Xayaburi, with 1275 MW the largest hydropower plant on the Mekong River in Laos. The electro-mechanical equipment consisting of seven 175 MW Kaplan units for EGAT, one 60 MW Kaplan unit for EdL (Électricité du Laos), as well as two Compact units with a capacity of 4 MW each, as well as all related and common auxiliary systems, have been in commercial operation since October 2020 providing about 7,300 GWh per year of electricity for more than 3 million households.

When welding one performs best work to portray one’s art as per utmost quality standards. The joining of two metals is an important work needing focus and high skills.

We live in a world that is changing rapidly. Some of these changes may take years, but they are long-term and fundamental. They will design the future of all continents, countries, communities, and each one of us. And they are taking place today.

ANDRITZ constantly examines various future scenarios, trends and topics in order to find tomorrow’s answers today. Proven technologies are progressively being adapted to changing market conditions so that our customers’ systems will do justice to increasingly challenging future requirements. We supply long-lasting, environmentally friendly and economically efficient solutions for hydraulic power generation. Finding answers for tomorrow today.

The power lies beneath. Generating units do not look all so powerful from outside above the cover. Grand Coulee on the Columbia River is the largest hydropower plant in the USA with almost 7,000 MW.

"Symmetry" - Sometimes you have to look at the symmetry of the installations to discover the beauty of technology. For the HPP Kaunertal we have delivered new generators and were responsible for the renewal of the penstocks.

The exact work of the on-site staff is essential for smooth installation of the equipment. Precesion is key to a successful installation. This picture was taken when the rotor at HPP Sinop, Mato Grosso, Brazil was assembled.

Working on-site under all circumstances and weather conditions ensures the accurate execution of the project. The picture emphasizes the absolute readiness and motivation of our staff to move the project forward. For the pumped storage power plant Gouvaes in Portugal, we are supplying not only the entire electro-mechanical equipment, but also the penstocks including the bifurcators with a total weight of 12,000t ons and a length of 2,500 m.

The understanding and cooperation of the people involved in a project on site is essential for the success of the whole project. This picture of the handshake of the civil company and ANDRITZ people was taken during the visit of the Prime Minister of Nepal to the site of Upper Tamakoshi (6 x 76.5 MW) hydropower plant in Nepal.

“Watch the Quality”, Flatness test of runner in our workshop at ANDRITZ Graz, Austria, where this runner was manufactured and tested. The runners were destined for the pumped storage power plant Obervermuntwerk II in Vorarlberg, Austria, which we have successfully commissioned in 2018. (2 x 190 MW).

Water storage is an effective way to store water for the generation of electricity for peak load periods. Tsankov Kamak in Bulgaria is a strategically important hydropower plant with storage capability and a total capacity of  86 MW. We have supplied electro-mechanical equipment for Austria’s first joint implementation project according to the Kyoto protocol. Since commissioning in 2008 Tsankov Kamakis producing 185 GWh/year of clean and sustainable energy for the Bulgarian grid.

For more information check out our Large new installation page

Components for pump cover for an Indian project are welded in our manufacturing workshop Tiszakécske, Hungary, where we are producing components in top quality with highly skilled and trained staff for ANDRITZ projects all over the world.

Visit the manufacturing page in Tiszakécske

Precise manufacturing is one of the key success factors for ANDRITZ. Francis turbine runner in the manufacturing process in our ANDRITZ Hydro workshop in Prithla, India. With dedication and precision our employees are working with top modern equipment. Automated machining as shown in this picture (Inlet side machining ) is a state-of-the-art tool to achieve best results. 

Visit the manufacturing page in India