A global technology company focused on the hydropower sector has completed another turbine upgrade at the Roxburgh Hydropower Station in New Zealand.
Voith on September 11 said the second unit of a planned four-turbine modernization project at Roxburgh has been commissioned. Roxburgh, owned by Contact Energy, is a 1950s-era facility. Four of the station’s eight original 40-MW units are undergoing a phased replacement.
The latest upgraded turbine was brought online after a testing phase and a 10-day endurance run. It was cleared for commercial operation in mid-August.
Voith said it leveraged insights gained from the first turbine upgrade, which was completed in December of last year, to reduce the on-site implementation time for the second unit by more than a month, helped by its New Zealand-based subcontractors. The first turbine completed efficiency tests in January of this year.
“The upgraded turbines deliver higher output with the same water flow due to the significant increase in efficiency,” said Kirk Pritchard, Contact Energy’s project delivery manager. “Our collaboration with Voith and its subcontractors has been instrumental in such a successful project. With two units operational, we’re on track to modernize this iconic piece of infrastructure that has powered New Zealand for over half a century.”
The third turbine, manufactured at Voith’s facility in India, arrived at Port Chalmers, New Zealand, on August 31. It will be installed after the existing third unit is dismantled as part of an ongoing process. Each new stainless-steel runner, weighing 28.5 tonnes and measuring 3.9 meters in diameter, is engineered to maximize energy output.
Raj Vidyarthi, managing director and CEO of Voith Hydro India, said, “This project underscores our ability to seamlessly combine the expertise of our global teams, manufacturing excellence and collaboration with Contact Energy and subcontractors for successful execution.”
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.
