Voith participated in Kaukauna Utilities Badger Hydro Plant’s formal dedication in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. The Badger Hydro Plant combines hydraulic capacity of the 105-year-old old Badger plant and the 85-year-old new Badger plant into a new single 2-unit plant resulting in more capacity than the previous two plants combined.
Voith was heavily involved in the project, as Voith Hydro supplied two Kaplan turbines and automation equipment, while Voith Turbo provided the speed increasers.
The 7 MW plant has a 50-year license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). It is estimated that 4,000 households will benefit from the clean, reliable energy produced by the Badger Hydro Plant.
The Badger Hydro Plant is indicative of much of the current focus of the U.S. hydropower industry. Many utilities and developers are retrofitting existing hydropower plants such as Badger to increase output, or turning to the U.S.’ nearly 80,000 non-powered dams and other water infrastructure to add hydropower production.
Voith Hydro is involved with many of these projects, including the expansion of PPL Generation’s Holtwood Hydroelectric Facility in Pennsylvania, AMP’s Ohio River Projects, and Missouri River Energy Services’ Red Rock Hydroelectric Project in Iowa.
