Pumped storage plant for India, upgrade for Portugal A 1 GW variable speed pumpe ...

Pumped storage plant for India, upgrade for Portugal A 1 GW variable speed pumped storage hydropower plant is to be built on the river Bhagirathi in the state of Uttarakhand, India. The €285mn plant will be constructed with Alstom and Hindustan Construction Company for Tehri Hydro Development Corporation. It will be the country’s first pumped storage power plant to use variable speed technology. The plant will comprise four 250 MW variable speed turbine and generator units from Alstom, and other equipment including main inlet valves and control and protection systems. On completion, the plant’s electricity output will provide power to the country’s northern grid. Elsewhere, in Portugal, Alstom, alongside Portuguese engineering company Ensulmeci, is supplying a new 207 MW power generation unit to the Salamonde dam, which is 30 km from the city of Braga. Alstom is to supply and install the unit. Salamonde’s existing units were installed in the 1950s and have an output of 42 MW. The commissioning of the third unit in 2015 will bring total power output of the Salamonde dam up to 250 MW. Pumped storage enables utilities to respond quickly to demand and can replace fossil fuels traditionally used during peak demand periods with hydro energy. Variable speed pump turbines offer greater efficiency in the technology, says Alstom.