Work was successfully completed at Portodemouros plant in December 2003 with the plant being handed over to Unión Fenosa after commissioning of the equipment.
In May 2002, VA TECH HYDRO in Spain was awarded a contract by Soluziona Ingeniería, S.A., the engineering company of the Union Fenosa group, for the supply, installation and commissioning of the electromechanical equipment for the Portodemouros plant (ecological flow), located in Pontevedra province, Galicia region, in northwest Spain.
Union Fenosa is the third main utility in Spain. VA TECH HYDRO´s scope of supply included 1 penstock ND 1800 and 20 m long, a dewatering pipe ND 2400 and 35 m long, 1 vertical 11 MW Francis turbine, 1 water-cooled generator, 1 butterfly valve ND 1700 NP12, 1 gate valve ND 1600 and governor system. This existing power station, owned by Union Fenosa, is located inside a cavern excavated in the mountain beside the dam.
The existing units are vertical Francis, with an output of 39 MW each. The connection to one of the existing penstocks was made with a special bifurcation piece. All equipment supplied by VA TECH HYDRO (turbine, valves, generator, penstock, etc.) is located below the ground level of the power station, in several tunnels and pits excavated in the soil.
For this reason and because of the small dimensions of the excavated area, all transport, handling and erection work was extremely complicated and required very careful coordination with civil work.
Soluziona signed the provisional acceptance and confirmed their satisfaction with the timely completion of the project. We expect to work together with this company in several new projects to be started in 2004.
