Editorial

Technology and the energy transition: Building a green future

Dear valued customers,

Welcome to the new issue of our customer magazine HydroNews.

The key challenge of our time is to successfully develop a stable, sustainable, and equitable energy system. Hydropower already plays a key part in this endeavor as the world’s single largest source of low[1]carbon energy. But just as important is the role hydropower can play in enabling other forms of renewable energy.

Pumped storage capacity is a prime example, acting as a simple and efficient route to responsive, reliable, and long-term bulk energy storage and helping to smooth the inherent variability of wind or solar energy. Examples of successful pumped storage power plants that support the energy transition in this issue include Zhen An in China and Abdelmoumen in Morocco. In India, ANDRITZ received major orders for pumped storage power plants this year. In India, ANDRITZ was awarded major contracts for pumped storage plants this year. But with the rise of renewable resources, new issues are emerging. One is the growing difficulty in maintaining stable grid frequency and voltage. Previously large rotating machines with a high mechanical inertia such as the steam turbines in fossil-fuelled power stations could overcome any fluctuations that emerged. Now, as these plants are phased out, stability is becoming harder to achieve. Hydropower is a key solution, working in harmony with other technologies.

The breakthroughs aren’t limited to hydropower alone though. As a global supplier of electromechanical equipment and services, ANDRITZ offers a whole suite of products that can make a significant contribution to grid stability and resilience. The ANDRITZ Synchronous Condenser as installed in Tucumã and Feijo in Brazil is an example which is able to provide the grid services that are ultimately needed to enable greater development of renewables. ANDRITZ has received a new contract in the USA for the Bakersfield substation, where our synchronous condensers will make a vital contribution to meeting the growing energy demand in Texas. Under the Low Carbon Inertia Service program, ANDRITZ was selected to supply four synchronous condensers to Ireland and North Ireland to make the grid fit for the future.

ANDRITZ has used its expertise and experience — underpinned by extensive R&D capabilities — to serve the needs of the energy system and our customers, and will continue to do so as a new renewable energy era emerges.

Yours sincerely,

Frédéric Sauze, Harald Heber, Gerhard Kriegler

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Our hydropower service and product portfolio supports the entire lifecycle of a hydropower plant, from design and engineering to manufacturing, installation, on through to commissioning and training. Whether the project at hand concerns hydromechanical and electromechanical equipment for new hydropower plants or the modernization and automation of existing facilities, we are constantly striving to meet our customers' needs and requirements with top-tier technology and innovative energy solutions.

ANDRITZ provides custom-tailored solutions “from water-to-wire” — all from a single source.