There is concern in the hydroelectric industry about quality control issues when it comes to hydropower asset replacements and repairs.
“We have become increasingly concerned about the level of quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) with hydro turbine construction and repairs,” said Kirk Hudson, managing director – transmission and generation with Chelan County Public Utility District. Chelan PUD owns and operates the 1,300-MW Rocky Reach, 624-MW Rock Island and 59-MW Lake Chelan hydro projects.
An article on this topic was published in the March 2018 issue of Hydro Review.
To drive a discussion about the issues and brainstorm potential solutions to improve hydropower asset life, a workshop is being held on the topic at HydroVision International 2018. At this workshop — called Avoiding a Crisis: Emphasizing QA/QC in Engineering, Manufacturing, Project Delivery and Contracting — the hydroelectric industry and its vendors will work together to develop a list of issues and potential solutions in the categories of engineering, project delivery/contracting, and manufacturing and installation.
Steering committee members for this workshop are Hudson; Herbie Johnson, hydro general manager with Southern Company; Elizabeth Ingram, managing editor of PennWell’s hydro group; Debbie Mursch, director of markets, strategy and development, hydro with GE Renewable Energy; and Daniel Rabon, national hydropower business line manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The workshop, on Monday, June 25 in Charlotte, N.C., U.S., is free to attend, but registration is required.
