Electrical Rehabilitation of an Aging Small Hydroelectric Powerhouse Rehabilitation Case Study for presentation at HydroVision 2018, June 26-27 Charlotte, North Carolina

摘要

WEC Energy Group owns and operates 30 hydroelectric facilities with a combined capacity of 191 MW. The majority of the facilities were constructed in the early to mid 1900’s. While these facilities have been a dependable source of renewable energy, the facilities are aging and the old electrical gear does not meet current safety or reliability requirements. As a result, WEC Energy Group has implemented a process of evaluating and rehabilitating their hydro fleet. The paper will discuss the specific case study of the Peavy Falls Electrical Rehabilitation Project. The Peavy Falls project is a 12 MW powerhouse with two 6 MW hydroelectric turbines, built in 1943. The paper will highlight objectives used by WEC Energy group in evaluating the facility in preparation for the rehabilitation. The project methodology used will be explained including the facility condition assessment, design basis assumptions, pre-procurement contracting, and construction outage planning. Specific details will be included regarding decisions made for specific equipment upgrades. This included replacement of the line and neutral cubicles, upgrading the facility to digital governors, new protective relays, upgraded station service from 120/208V to 480V, generator rewinds and core re-stacking, excitation replacement with conversion to brushless exciters, and plant controls and communication improvements. Some key challenges faced during the process and modifications made to the original rehabilitation plan will be discussed. Finally, some descriptions and photographs will be used to illustrate how the outage was executed and the facility was rehabilitated.