The developers of a new pumped storage hydropower plant in Switzerland have placed an order with Alstom for the supply of cutting-edge technology for the facility.
Under a EUR125 million contract, Alstom will equip the new Nant de Drance hydropower station with variable speed pump turbine technology that regulates the amount of energy consumed by the plant. The project represents the first use of this technology in Switzerland.
The 628 MW plant, near Finhaut in the southwestern Canton Valais of Switzerland, will consist of four 157 MW vertical Francis reversible turbines and four 170 MVA vertical motor/generator units. It is being developed by a partnership of Swiss energy provider Alpiq, Forces Motrices Valaisannes (FMV) and Swiss federal railways SBB.
Alstom will supply the main equipment for the plant as well as handle complete site delivery, erection, supervision and commissioning. The firm’s manufacturing facilities in Grenoble, France and Birr, Switzerland will engineer and manufacture the equipment, to be delivered up to 2017.
The installation will integrate two state-of-the-art technologies: a conventional pump turbine and a variable speed pump turbine. The former pumps the water into a reservoir located in the higher lake during periods of low energy demand and releases it to produce energy during peak times, while the latter regulates the level of energy it consumes, thus contributing to better grid regulation.
Civil works on the project have already started.
