Technical Details
Year of manufacture: | 1976 | |
Nominal power of unit 4 & 5: | 17 MW | |
Nominal speed: | 750 rpm | |
Runaway speed: | 1,435 rpm | |
Rated head: | 185 m | |
Draft tube outlet: | 2,100 mm |
Two new Francis runners
Ramu 1, Papua New Guinea
ANDRITZ has manufactured two spare Francis runners for units 4 and 5 of the Ramu 1 hydropower plant located in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. The contract was awarded by the state-owned utility Papua Power Ltd. (PPL) in February 2022 and the two spare runners were delivered in August 2023.
The runners are rated at 17 MW output each, have a diameter of 1,200 mm, and an operating speed of 750 rpm. Ramu 1 is an underground power plant and consists of five machine sets with a total plant capacity of 77 MW. Three units with 15 MW each were put into operation in 1975 / 76 and two more units with 17 MW each were added subsequently and put into service in 1989. Immediately there-after, the three original units were extensively modernized by ANDRITZ. Since 2011, some of the auxiliary systems were modernized. As Ramu-1 plays an important role for the local population to gain independence from expensive diesel and oil as a source of energy, PPL is planning to conduct a major overhaul of the plant.
Authors: Gerhard Enzenhofer and Edo Ronaldo
