Voith Has Been Awarded a Prestigious Automation Contract for Two Norwegian Hydropower Plants with Norway’s Largest Among Them

Preparatory works began immediately after contract signing in June. With both upgrades Sira-Kvina kraftselskap DA invests in significant improvements to both personnel safety and operational reliability, and also secures the production of clean, renewable energy for another 40 years.

Sira-Kvina kraftselskap DA is owned by Lyse Produksjon AS, Statkraft Energi AS, Skagerak Kraft AS and Agder Energi Vannkraft AS. It has a total installed capacity of 1,760 MW and an average yearly production of 6,300 GWh from seven power plants. The awarded contract includes upgrading and modernizing of the control systems and the electrical auxiliary systems for its two hydropower plants Tonstad and Solhom, where old relay control systems will be upgraded to state-of-the-art Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)-based ones. In addition to the control systems for the power units there are also protection and control systems for complex medium- and extra high-voltage systems.

Voith has delivered many similar systems all over Norway and is currently also managing the electrical installations at Lyse’s new power station in Lysebotn.

The Tonstad power plant is Norway’s largest when it comes to average annual production (3,800 GWh). It therefore plays an important role in Norway’s energy supply and was integrated to the energy grid already in 1968. The incremental commissioning of the upgraded technology will take place annually, starting in spring 2017 with auxiliary systems of Tonstad. Afterwards the new control systems for all five units will be commissioned from 2018 to 2022.

Works at the Solhom hydropower plant will run partly parallel when auxiliary systems will be commissioned in 2019 and new control systems for the units follow in 2020 and 2021. The Solhom power plant has an average annual production of 695 GWh generated by two Francis turbines. Together Tonstad and Solhom cover the energy demand of roughly 230,000 households.

“This is a really exciting and demanding project. There are several technical challenges and we always have to consider that the other units in the power plant will be in full operation during the modernization. However, thanks to our experience and close collaboration with the customer, our highly dedicated team will be able to successfully complete the project within the scheduled time period,” says Torgeir Myrvold, Project Manager for Tonstad and Solhom.

Voith Hydro AS CEO Frode Moen complements: “We are very satisfied being awarded this prestigious project by Sira-Kvina. It is among the largest stand-alone automation contracts awarded within the Norwegian hydropower market.”