Voith will supply two semi-axial pump turbines for the upgrade at the Torrejón hydropower plant

Voith

Voith to upgrade hydropower plants in Spain. (Credit: Voith GmbH & Co. KGaA.)

Spanish electric utility Iberdrola has placed an order with Voith for the replacement of five pump turbines at the Torrejón and Valdecañas hydropower plants on the River Tajo.

For the order, Voith has agreed to supply two semi-axial pump turbines, each with an output of 43MW, for the upgrade at the Torrejón hydropower plant.

The contract scope includes supply of the runners, guide vanes, turbine covers, shafts and bearings along with hydraulic and digital governors.

As part of the modernisation, the plant will be converted to have variable-speed and the head will also be increased.

At the Valdecañas hydropower plant, Voith will supply three Deriaz pump turbines, each with an output of 83MW, along with the supply of the runners, parts of the control systems and the hydraulic governors.

The two hydropower plants are expected to be commissioned in 2025

Furthermore, both projects will include model acceptance tests, installation supervision and the full commissioning of the turbines.

The first runners for the plants could be delivered in the second half of 2022 and the last runners in the middle of 2024.

The plants are expected to be commissioned in early 2025.

Voith Hydro sales and marketing manager Quentin Seringe said: “By modernizing both hydropower plants, Voith is making an important contribution to a more flexible use of hydropower plants in the European power grid.”

“For the Valdecañas project, we are developing a Deriaz pump turbine that can be optimally used especially for small to medium heads. The Torrejón project also represents a special modernization project for Voith due to the speed variability and the increase in head while maintaining the same construction conditions.”

In July, the company announced that the Wu Dongde hydropower plant has started operations from first units that were designed and supplied by it.