Siemens can draw on decades of experience and hundreds of small hydro-power plants installed worldwide.The company is renowned for technical excellence and outstanding service.

Siemens can serve as a system provider with comprehensive expertise in the implementation of turnkey projects. This can translate into high profitability and availability of the plant and low total cost of ownership. If an existing plant needs to be upgraded with state-of-the-art technology, Siemens is the partner of choice. By using the pre-existing technical equipment that is already installed on site, Siemens can optimize the technology with minimal budget requirements.

During 2015 Siemens Sweden together with the center of competence for small hydro in Salzburg (CoC Salzburg), has modernized Lafssjö hydro power plant owned by Uniper (E.ON). The power plant is located in the northern part of Sweden outside Ramsele. It has been commissioned in 1980 and has not been modernized since then. The power plant has one Kaplan unit with an output of 1.4 MW.

TURNKEY SOLUTION IN A SMALL PACKAGE
Siemens has delivered a complete modernization package of I&C and electrical system that will maximize the availability and efficiency of the plant for the customer and minimize the maintenance costs. It will also extend the life time of the power plant for many years to come. The heart of the solution is the Siemens Automation system and turbine governor Sipocon – H (Siemens Power Control – Hydro) based on SIMATIC S7-1500 and WinCC Professional. This system provides long-term data storage and related reporting features, for continuous analysis and evaluation. Standardized interfaces and communication as well as the modular governor architecture for tailor-made plant design ensure ultimate availability and proven performance. The Siemens Small Hydro Standard for Automation and Turbine Governor makes the system very easy to parametrize and maintain for operational and maintenance staff. The power plant is not generally manned and normally operated remotely from the opera tional control center in Sundsvall. This makes it very important for the customer to have a safe and secure operation of the power plant. Besides the I&C system Siemens also delivered a new generator switch gear, a new 20kV switch gear, relay protection, water level measurement and a low voltage system. All this together with engineering, installation commissioning, training and documentation makes the project a turnkey solution in a small package. Siemens is able to cover the whole portfolio for electrical and I&C equipment for a hydro power plant with own products. This guarantees best possible prices and most efficient product management as well as prodcut development for the highest quality of products. The project was managed from Siemens in Sweden together with the Siemens Center of Competence for Small Hydro in Salzburg. The project was very important for Siemens to establish another reference and technology milestone in Sweden. Siemens proved again that the professional collaboration of the local Siemens office with the CoC in Salzburg is working in the most satisfying way.

WATER TO WIRE AN ALL-IN-ONE PACKAGE
Treska II, a new small hydropower plant, is currently being constructed some 220 km south of Albania’s capital Tirana in the region of Korca. Working in close cooperation with the end customer and a reliable partner for turbine engineering, the Small Hydro CoC at the Siemens office in Salzburg has developed an electromechanical concept for this showcase project that is optimally suited to the local conditions. The milestone project also marked the beginning of a highly successful and satisfactory cooperation between the Albanian private investor and Siemens Austria. The contracted scope of supply includes the engineering, delivery, installation and commissioning of the turbine and generator, automation, turbine governor and SCADA systems, transformers and medium-voltage switchgear as well as the connection to the grid. The customer gets an all-in-one water-to-wire solution where all interfaces and processes are managed by Siemens and controlled for the customer’s maximum benefit. For Siemens this project represents another milestone in consolidating their successful market development and customer service in the Albanian market.

SEVERAL GRID FLUCTUATIONS IN ALBANIA
Treska II is designed as a diversion power plant, with water being supplied by a penstock. The 980 kVA of energy generated by the five-jet Pelton turbine is fed to the local 35 kV grid via a block transformer and a 40.5 kV medium-voltage switchgear system. Using a 40.5 kV switchgear allowed Siemens to react on the local regulators’ demands and the several regional grid fluctuations. Thanks to this solution, the facility can run reliably and kept on the grid at all times, ensuring a much higher operational availability for the customer. For Siemens, convincing the customer for this solution despite the slightly higher overall cost was crucial to winning the contract.

GOOD PROSPECTS FOR FURTHER PROJECTS
Creating local value is important to Siemens, which is why local firms are subcontracted for installation work wherever possible. All installation work is supervised and supported by Siemens based on a “hands-on” approach. As a reliable partner, Siemens offers full investment protection, which is essential for this project,” says the plant’s investor and proprietor, Mr Bardhi Shamo. While working on the project, the customer had already been so impressed with the constructive collaboration and excellent quality of products and services that they took on the role of a local promoter of Siemens Small Hydro Austria in Albania. As a result, a new project with another customer is already in the pipeline.