Washington utility seeks turbine upgrades at 855-MW Priest Rapids

Grant County Public Utility District invites applications for pre-qualification for a turbine upgrade program at its 855-MW Priest Rapids hydroelectric development, on the Columbia River in Washington. Responses are due June 2.

Grant County PUD said the work will consist of two parts. In the first part, one or more pre-qualified bidders are to develop replacement turbine designs and demonstrate performance of the designs on physical turbine models. In the second part, the bidder with the lowest evaluated bid price will be awarded a contract for design, manufacture, and delivery.

The contractor also is to perform specialized field work, provide field installation supervisory services, and perform commissioning and field testing. It is to assist the district with condition assessment of turbine parts to be reused by carrying out engineering work and providing opinions on the suitability of parts of new duty.

The district intends to run a generator upgrade program in parallel with turbine upgrades at Priest Rapids, one of two developments in the 1,980-MW Priest Rapids project (No. 2114). Grant County PUD also is upgrading generators at the other development, 1,125-MW Wanapum Dam. (HNN 2/9/09)

Generator parts are to be supplied under a separate contract. A separate application for pre-qualification is to be solicited and required to bid for that work. However, the turbine contractor is expected to design and analyze the interfaces between the turbine and generator, such as the dynamics of rotating parts.

Grant County PUD said it anticipates existing turbine runners will be replaced with Kaplan runners of larger diameter, to a maximum diameter of 310 inches, set at a lower elevation. The Kaplan turbine runners have nominal diameters of 284 inches.

Existing turbines and generators were manufactured by English Electric and were installed in the late 1950s. The turbine rating is 114,000 horsepower under a net head of 78 feet and rotating at 85.61 revolutions per minute. The district said the turbines are in fair operating condition and that cavitation damage is minimal.

Benefits from the turbine upgrade include improvements in efficiency and capacity, implementation of “fish friendly” features, and general modernization.

Pre-qualification documents for the Priest Rapids Dam Turbine Upgrade Project solicitation (No. 230-2818 RFQ) are available from Grant County PUD’s procurement Internet site, www.ebidexchange.com/gcpud.

Pre-qualification applications are due by 3:30 p.m. June 2 to Jay Taylor, Contract Officer, Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County, Wash., 15655 Wanapum Village Lane S.W., Beverly, WA 99321. For information, contact Taylor, (1) 509-793-1468; E-mail: [email protected].

Cranes to be rehabilitated for turbine upgrade program

Advanced Crane Technologies LLC of Reading, Pa., mobilized in March to rehabilitate two 350-ton powerhouse bridge cranes that will be used in both the turbine and generator upgrade programs at Priest Rapids Dam. Advanced Crane anticipates completing its work in December.

Grant County PUD awarded a $3.1 million contract to the company to modernize the controls on both bridge cranes, including flux vector controls on the hoists. The contract also includes new motors, brakes, festoons, and operator cabs.