New York Power Authority’s (NYPA) Blenheim-Gilboa pumped storage project is ready for the peak-demand summer season, following the completion of work on the first of four pump-turbine generating units to undergo upgrades at the hydroelectric project as part of a multi-year life extension and modernisation (LEM) programme.
The newly refurbished generating unit resumed operation on May 24 after being out of service since late September 2006. Blenheim-Gilboa’s three other pump-turbine generators operated most of that time, except for a six-week period when it was necessary to shut down the 1040MW project to facilitate the work. This included reducing the water levels in the facility’s upper reservoir for replacement of a spherical valve on the refurbished unit. The valve controls the flow of water into the project powerhouse.
‘A pivotal consideration throughout this effort was to return the refurbished generating unit to service before summer, when electricity demand is highest, and that’s what we did,’ said Allen Schriver, NYPA regional manager, Central New York. ‘This was a tremendous effort involving highly skilled engineers and other professionals who managed a difficult undertaking, involving replacement of major mechanical and electrical components.’
In September, NYPA will commence work on a second pump-turbine generator, with that unit slated to be returned to service the following June in a repetition of a schedule similar to the first unit. The work on the other two pump generating units will be undertaken in the same manner over successive years, with the LEM programme to be completed in June 2010.
The turbine being lifted earlier this year for delivery into the power house of the Blenheim-Gilboa project in the northern Catskills. Photo courtesy of NYPA
The turbine being lifted earlier this year for delivery into the power house of the Blenheim-Gilboa project in the northern Catskills. Photo courtesy of NYPA New turbine