Voith Hydro has launched a new generation of hydraulic turbine governors. The HyCon GoHybrid has been in operation since the end of last year at SWU Energy GmbH at the hydropower plant in Wiblingen, Germany and has already proved itself to be up to the task.
Efficient electricity production in power plants is only guaranteed if turbine and generator output can be adjusted precisely by means of a governor.
Voith Product Manager, Felix Lippold, describes the governor as an innovation in the field of hydropower, as the use of the GoHybrid makes operations more efficient, cost-saving and ecological than ever before.
The HyCon GoHybrid hydraulic governor was named after its special features. It combines the safety of a conventional system with the advantages of novel technologies, through which a drastic reduction of the oil content and energy consumption is achieved. The amount of oil required is reduced by up to 60% compared to conventional high-pressure units and by up to 90% compared to low-pressure units.
Due to the compact design of the hydraulic power unit (HPU), the installation effort is reduced. The pilot installation at the pilot customer, SWU Energy GmbH in the hydropower plant Wiblingen was completed within one day. Connection to the existing digital control system is simplified by a small number of interfaces. Standardised components and the reduced complexity of the system will also reduce maintenance costs for the operator in the future.
In the first months since commissioning, the new unit has already been able to demonstrate its positive properties. With less than 10% of the amount of energy consumed by a conventional HPU, expectations were exceeded in terms of energy savings. Therefore, SWU Energie decided to take over the system after the test operation ending in June.
The HyCon GoHybrid is soon to be used in additional power plants and another system will be commissioned in Sweden this summer.
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