It’s not only hydroelectric power stations “Made in Austria” that are in high demand. Control and automation systems from the Alpine republic also enjoy a strong reputation in the sector.

Schubert Elektroanlagen from Ober-
Grafendorf in Lower Austria, which
has been providing electrical equipment
for 40 years, is a perfect example of this.
One of the newest and yet most prestigious
reference projects was recently
completed in Albania: Schubert managed
the entire control and automationsystem
for the important Lapaj cascade
hydroelectric power station, fitting it
with an efficient “nervous system” that
meets the state of the art in hydroelectric
technology.

Hardly any other hydroelectric power
station in the Balkans has been in the
international headlines in the last few
years as much as the Lapaj power station. It
has become the symbol for the Albanians’
efforts to press ahead with their country’s
expansion of its own hydropower potential.
The conditions could hardly be more favourable.
With mountains up to 2,800 meters high
and the best precipitation patterns due to its
damming position, the south east European
country is one of the most promising growth
markets in Europe in terms of hydropower.
The potential for expansion is estimated to be
around 12 TWh and and Albania is thought
to have currently developed only around one
third of its economically and ecologically usable
potential. If you consider that the country
continues to import around 50 percent of its
electricity from abroad, it is easy to see why
the Albanian government under Premier Sali
Berisha places such importance on the expansion
of hydropower, and thus attracting wealthy
investors to the country.
Particular attention has been paid the new
power station at Lapaj. It is actually a key project.
Firstly, it is highly significant as an infrastructure
project, since it generates electricity
for around 22,000 Albanian families in a region
where economic development still lags far
behind Central European standards.
Secondly, it is the technical centrepiece of a
whole chain of cascade hydropower plants to
be constructed along the Bushtrica River.
A TRIED-AND-TESTED CONSORTIUM
Not least because of the power station’s great
significance, the operators, Gjo-Spa Power,
did not want to make any compromises when
it came to the plant’s technical equipment.
High demands were placed on the availability,
durability and efficiency of the hydropower
technology employed. Only the very best quality
was considered. Quality which hydropower
specialists such as Kossler or Schubert
Elektroanlagen are known to guarantee.
As a consortium under the leadership of the
Lower Austrian turbine manufacturer, the two
companies were awarded the contract for the
power station’s electrical equipment. “For us
it meant that we would be providing all the
electrical equipment, from various types of
measurement sensors to the 24 kV grid feedin,
over the period of approximately one year.
We received the order in June 2010 the contract,
and in June 2012 we completed the project
with its commissioning,” explains the
Power Station Division Manager at Schubert,
Ing. Christian Schwarzenbohler.

PREVENTING A “BOTTLE NECK”
What the made the task particularly challenging
for the experienced electrical engineering
specialists from Ober-Grafendorf was the fact
that the power station is to be the hub of the
planned chain of power stations. As
Schwarzenbohler explains: “The Lapaj power
station will be the feed-in point for all the
planned power stations. For us, the conceptual
challenge was to construct this plant to be
suitably robust and reliable. We had to create
a situation whereby it would not create a
“bottleneck” in terms of the energy supply
when it is later connected to the other upstream
and downstream plants, and ensure that
availability and reliability will remain high. A
further important aspect was the SCADAsystem.
It had to be programmed and designed
so that the cascade can also be controlled,
monitored and managed centrally from
the Lapaj power plant.”
A proven turbine control system is used,
which is precisely aligned to the optimum
points of the turbines’ efficiency curves and
also controls the crossover points for the
interaction between the two hydroelectric
sets. Christian Schwarzenbohler’s team have
once again demonstrated their competence
on this project. They are now able to draw on
the enormous amount of experience gleaned
from the roughly 400 hydropower projects
performed by Schubert Elektroanlagen
around the globe over the last 40 years.
FLEXIBILITY BRINGS ADVANTAGES
The equipment installed in the prominent
Lapaj power plant by no means represents
Schubert Elektroanlagen’s début in the south
east European country. It is actually the
fourth plant it has worked on in Albania, and
two more are currently under construction,
due to be put into operation later this year.
There are several factors behind the electrical
engineering and control technology success of
the company from Lower Austria in the
hydroelectric power station sector. One of
them is certainly the flexibility of a company
that has advantages in terms of its size when
it comes to its internal organisation and pricing
structure. Then there is the famous high
quality. This stems from the fact that the
Schubert electrical engineering solutions are
developed entirely in house. “This certainly
works in our favour. We manufacture our
switchgear here in house, all the way through
from the planning stage to execution. And we
intend to continue building on this advantage.
In the future, using a 3D CAD design
system will enable us to plan and execute the
switchgear production and electrical installations
even faster and more accurately. This
will take us yet another step ahead of the
competition, and another step closer to our
photo credits: Schubert
customers,” says Christian Schwarzenbohler.
With the order for the equipment of the new
Lapaj power station, Schubert was able to
make full use of all the synergy effects of a
broad-based energy technology company.
“Because the scope of delivery included all
the electrical equipment, we were able to provide
everything from a single source. This is
great, but on the other hand, it requires the
highest level of teamwork from all the departments
in our company. To then be able to
come up with an overall concept for a major
customer, from the smallest sensor to the grid
feed-in, also requires reliable project management.
And this is else something we place
great value on,” explains the division manager.
In any case, the Lapaj power plant project
represents a satisfying conclusion for him. An
ambitious project which once again demonstrates
the high level of competence of the
Austrian hydropower company.