A challenging job in South America
In May 2004, VA TECH HYDRO successfully finished and commissioned the expansion project of the fifth unit of the Santa Isabel hydropower plant in Bolivia.
The project was quite challenging considering the basic layout which saw the Santa Isabel Plant add a fifth unit for the power station, fed by two existing penstocks. VA TECH HYDRO also experienced important interfaces with the existing plant in operation and the civil works had to be carried out in limited space. Adding to this was a very tight schedule of the connection to the existing facilities as it was due in a maximum of 15 days of total outage of the plant.
Complex logistics
The transportation logistics were also very demanding, as it required trucks up to European and Indian seaports with vessels heading to Chile. Upon arrival to Chile the vessels unloaded their big and heavy cargoes onto waiting trucks, which transported the goods the final way of the journey up to the Santa Isabel site in Bolivia.
The Santa Isabel scope
Upon the trucks arrival in Bolivia the Santa Isabel expansion project got underway. Santa Isabel is the second plant in a cascade of hydropower plants that use the water stored in the Corani reservoir.
The scope of supply consisted of design, supply, erection and commissioning of one horizontal Pelton turbine and two jets with a capacity of 21.1 MW, a generator, three spherical valves and penstock/ bifurcation for the connection to the two existing manifolds. The complete scheme was installed between the altitudes of 3,245 and 1,735 m above sea level.
