Voith has been awarded a contract to modernize a motor-generator at the 1,290-MW Vianden pumped storage hydro plant on the border between Germany and Luxembourg.
Voith’s work includes the design, calculation, construction, delivery and assembly of a new motor-generator.
The original motor-generator was installed in 1976. It will be replaced by a new synchronous motor-generator fitted with a starting frequency converter.
This new motor-generator will increase potential capacity of the unit by about 7%, according to a press release. New capacity of the unit will be 217 MW. In addition, the new motor-generator will be able to respond faster to changes in the load requirements from the power grid.
Vianden is owned by Societe Electrique de l’Our S.A. and is marketed and operated by RWE Generation. Vianden contains 11 generating sets and began operating in 1964. It supplies electricity directly to the German transmission grid. It is used as a flexible electricity storage system and to regulate the grid as part of the transition process to renewable energies, Voith says.
Work on the machine is scheduled to be complete by 2021.
Voith previously worked on four other units at Vianden.
