The White River project involves the development of three new hydroelectric power plants at the three existing lock/dam structures on the White River near Batesville in Arkansas/USA.
The powerhouses are to be constructed within the existing lock structure at each of the dams. These lock structures had never been used for their design purposes after the US Army Corps of Engineers originally constructed them in the early 1900’s and the dam/lock structures where subsequently sold off to the County of Independence.
Competency
VA TECH HYDRO’s introduction to the White River project was a result of the failure of a competitor to fulfil its contractual obligations to the customer and a subsequent contract default. Due to familiarity with the VA TECH HYDRO name and competency, the customer came to VA TECH and North American Hydro inquiring if VA TECH HYDRO would take over the development of the project.
VA TECH Scope:
- ·three 4,000 mm horizontal 3-blade Kaplan Pit turbines and HPU’s
- ·three horizontal speed increasers and 4,300 kW sync generators
- ·three sets controls/switchgear with SCADA system
- ·80 days of field service representation during installation/start-up
Quick and effective solution
VA TECH HYDRO is to supply three new 4000mm diameter horizontal Pit type Kaplan turbines, which are to be installed at three new powerhouses. Each turbine will have a rated output of 4,300 kW under a 4.27m net head.
They are identical to a unit VA TECH HYDRO recently supplied for the Batawa project in Canada. This ensures that the design and manufacturing costs are very well known with cost risks significantly minimized. The equipment design is well established with minimum risk associated with achieving performance levels.
Turbine drawings are essentially complete (from Batawa) allowing the project team to quickly proceed with powerhouse design and to meet the construction completion schedule desired by the customer.
This project represents the first major Compact Hydro project for VA TECH HYDRO in the USA since the Goat Rock Project contracted in 2001. Because of the small number of new projects in the US in recent years this project would go far to VA TECH achieving a dominant market share in the US for Compact Hydro.
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