Engineering support for utility-scale hydropower
Power system engineering supporting hydropower generation at up to 100 MW, spanning connection, studies and network design.
The challenge
Hydropower projects combine long asset lives with demanding connection requirements: the electrical infrastructure must be designed for decades of service while satisfying the network operator from the first application.
Context
Hydropower generation projects within our engineers' UK project experience, at up to 100 MW.
Our scope
Electrical engineering across the connection life cycle: connection and compliance support, power system studies and network design for the generation infrastructure.
Technical complexity
Generation at this scale is a significant event on the local network. The engineering has to resolve fault level, stability of protection operation and network capacity questions while remaining practical for a site whose civil and mechanical constraints are fixed by the water resource, not the electrical designer.
Engineering approach
Electrical design decisions were made against the whole operating life of the plant: connection arrangements, studies and network design were developed together so the network operator saw one consistent technical story, and the owner received infrastructure designed to be operated and maintained, not just energised.
Key deliverables
- Connection and compliance support
- Power system studies
- Network design for the generation connection
Result
The connection support, studies and network design were delivered as one coordinated package, giving the network operator a single consistent technical basis to assess and the owner generation infrastructure designed for the whole operating life of the plant, not only its energisation.
A project like this one?
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