Plans to modernise the world’s largest underground generating station have taken a step forward with the award of a contract worth €50 million by Hydro-Québec.
The Canadian power utility has placed an order with Alstom for equipment and services to refurbish the Centrale Robert-Bourassa hydropower plant in northern Québec.
The project will substantially improve the plant’s performance and is part of Hydro-Québec’s investment programme aimed at meeting growing electricity demand.
Under the terms of the contract, Alstom will design, manufacture and deliver four new 333 MW Francis turbine runners for units 1-4 of the dam, and carry out the complete refurbishment and modernisation of two turbine-generator groups. It will also supply several new components – ring gate, distributor, servomotors and turbine shaft – for unit 1 of the power plant, while refurbishing some of the existing components for units 2 and 3, and replacing 16 electronic governor systems.
Commissioning of the first upgraded unit is scheduled for autumn 2013. The contract also includes an option for the supply of four more runners for units 4-8 and the refurbishment and modernization of six more turbine-generator units.
The Robert-Bourassa power plant consists of 16 units with a total power generating capacity of 5616 MW. The dam is located on the La Grande River in northern Quebec and one of the facilities of Hydro-Québec’s James Bay project.
Together with the La Grande 2-A generating station, the two plants account for over 20 per cent of Hydro-Québec’s installed capacity.
