HyPower
Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation customer magazine

Feb 2007

15

Electricity: the lifeblood of the modern world I Numericalanalyses in electrical machines I New generator workshops

SUMMARY

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Report28

12 Automated numerical analyses
for the design of electrical machinesSouth America
33 Salto Pilão and Peruvian Moyopampa
stand out among São Paulo projects
North America
34 Revelstoke starting hydro power
series in Canada
35 Holtwood expansion project in the US
Austria
36 50 years of the Jochensteinhydroelectric power station

Projects

Miscellaneous

Sweden23 Ligga hydro unit refurbishment
awarded by Vattenfall
Croatia
27 Modernization in Zakucac
Hungary
28 Modernization of Tiszalök plantin Hungarian national park
Afghanistan
30 A special field service challengeIndia
32 Omkareshwar progressing well

Manufacturing
20 Groundbreaking ceremony
for Shanghai generator factory
21 New German workshop for generator
rehabilitation and service
Acquisition
22 Voith Siemens Hydro is majority
shareholder of VG Power AB
Electrical expertise
24 First ThyriconTM 600 system installedat Norway’s Savalen
25 HyConTM 400 control system
for Germany’s Herdecke plant
26 St. Pölten strong pillar in termsof generators
Ocean Energies
46 Joint venture for tidal current powerin South Korea

Focus on electricity
4 The lifeblood of the modern world

Technologicalleadership

2

50

News
38 Professorship endowed
38 Ghazi Barotha, Pakistan
39 Ponte Pià, Italy
39 German-Chilean Energy Forum
News from the Voith Group
54 Voith Paper
55 Voith Industrial Services
55 Voith Turbo

Events42 Book on ‘The Power of Water’47 Seminar on silt erosion in New Delhi
48 International hydro events in Beijing
and Vienna
49 Conferences, seminars and symposia

Politics
Interview
40 Our responsibility as an equipment
supplier
44 The Greenhouse Gas story: UNESCO
convened workshop in Paris
Associations
45 HEA launches PR campaign

Essay
50 Oskar von Miller
A forceful, self-taught, altruistic
engineer

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerEDITORIAL

Dr. Hubert Lienhard,
Chairman of the Boardof Voith Siemens Hydro
Power Generation

Dear readers, dear partners,
Looking back at 2006, we canreflect on an exciting year for hydrowithin the global sustainable energy
mix debate.
In this context, hydro power has
passed many tests in various
political frameworks again. Just in
December, a Paris-based UNESCO
workshop finally gathered the rightaudience to discuss in-depth thequestion of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from reservoirs. While many
polemical debates and inconclusive
non-scientific views were presented
last year in which hydro power was
the cause of CO2 and CH4 emissions and therefore contributing to
global warming, we are now seeing
much more sensible research
guarded by a serious approach,involving appropriate political andscientific representation. Finally,
the debate is returning to moreessence and rationality.
The question of emissions from
non-tropical reservoirs is now seen
to be neglectable; tropical reservoirs
must be monitored and measured
on a wider basis and be mainly

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerinvestigated for methane rather thancarbon dioxide. Also, pre-impound
conditions that create emissions
after inundation must certainly besubtracted and cannot be attributed
to hydro power as such.
Thanks to the formidable efforts
through IHA and support of HEA,
I am pleased to say that we havebeen successful and will not besummarily banned from Carbon
Development Mechanisms or
through IPCC guidelines as a wholeindustry with its products and services.
I still hold the opinion that hydropower has to play its role in the fuelmix of the future and still think thatwithout hydro power the sustainablegrowth of economies and nations
in a globalized world will not be
possible. Hydro power’s contribution
will maintain sustainable development, energy, food, and water for
all, reducing global poverty, and will
help to reduce air pollution with its
inevitable effects towards global
warming.

of coal fired plants, if it cannot
find suitable hydro projects forinvestment” (press readings from
Nov. 2006), occurs to me as bizarre
as can be. This reconfirms the needto keep the flag flying for hydropower as a growing energy generation source, including innovativetechnologies for energy production
from ocean water, such as wave
or tidal. We will strongly support
sustainable and well-managedhydro power projects, as definedby the IHA Sustainability Guidelines
and their Assessment Protocol,
which were developed and so wellreceived in 2006.
As we go forward, let us show theworld that we are an industry of
consciousness and one that cares
about the effects of its technology
to the benefit of the world and its
population.
If you have any comments orquestions, please simply contact me
at Hubert.Lienhard@vs-hydro.com

Reading that, for example, a Brazilian utility “considers construction

3

REPORT

Electricity:
the lifeblood of the modern world

REPORT

Hong Kong skyline.

REPORT

We have vast energy sources available at our fingertips.
With each new day we make use of almost unimaginable
forces in a form which has been tamed for domestic use –transformed into electrical power.

Electrical power is indeed the blood
supply to the muscles of our industrial and informational societies.
We take the ready availability ofelectricity for granted as a sourceof light, propulsion, heat and refrigeration and only seem to notice its
importance if it is suddenly unavailable.

The world as we know it today
would be impossible without electrical power. The lifeblood of civilization shoots through the arteries ofmodern society at almost the speedof light and has accelerated not only
technological and scientific development but also our social life in abreathtaking way.

Our information and telecommunications systems, our transportsystems and modern medicine alldepend on electricity as an energy
source. The fact that it can beapplied anywhere and in any way
and not necessarily at its point of
production was the key to its global
success.

Highway and bridge traffic at night,
Shanghai, China.

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February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerREPORT

In the 19th century the world
was a darker and quieter place
In the first half of 19th century theworld was a significantly darker andquieter place. Muscle power, water
and wind were the most common
sources of energy. The clatter ofhooves could be heard in the street,water falling to drive a wooden
wheel or the creaking timbers ofa windmill with its sails turning.
Wheels, levers, switches, rollers
and pipes have been used for thousands of years to transmit power.
What opened up the possibilities
of machine production and started
the Industrial Revolution was theuse of energies which were createdartificially to some extent by changing their physical characteristics
and processing primary energy
sources.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPower

Woman using early electric iron, 1908.

A water wheel at a mill in Gweek
near Helston in Cornwall, UK, 1933.

The steam engine was the first andmost fundamental example of thisbut with electricity being used everywhere industrialization achieved adynamism which had not been
imagined before. From a historicalpoint of view, electrification happened within a blink of an eye.

Approximately 9,000 insulators
were fastened to a cable which
was suspended from wooden poles.
Each of the poles had a warning
sign showing a skull and crossbones. Power had been transmitted
successfully and the trio of production, transmission and applicationof electricity was complete.

The breakthrough was provided
by the International Electrical Engineering Exhibition held in German
Frankfurt in 1891 which was supplied with power via an overland
cable using the new three-phasetechnology from a hydroelectric
plant some 175 kilometers away
in Lauffen am Neckar (for more
reading see also our essay starting
page 50). A 300 horsepower water
turbine was used to drive a 50 volt
generator; the voltage was transformed to 14 kilovolt and transmitted
via a rather thick 4 mm2 copper
cable.

Electrical power had thus overcome
a barrier which was a decisiveobstacle for its predecessors: it did
not have to be used at the place
where it was produced. Power plants
could produce electricity with steam
turbines powered by fossil fuels, or
drive a generator using water turbines and transmit power to outlying
towns and factories.

7

REPORT

Women filing index cards at government
office, 1939, Washington, DC, USA.

Electricity changed cities
and city life
In the beginning, electricity was
still too expensive for the average
household to replace oil lamps
with electric lighting. But there
was progress in the workplace.
Factories and businesses could
be illuminated individually and thetransmission belts, which were often
lethally dangerous and were used
for mechanically transmitting thedrive power to machinery, were
replaced with small fixed electricmotors.
Gradually, electricity first crept into
the every day lives of factory workers, then into official buildings andpublic institutions and finally into theeveryday lives of city dwellers,
where it made a crucial difference –just as it changed the way cities
looked, particularly in North America. Without the use of comparatively
lightweight electric motors which
made it possible to drive water
pumps and elevator mechanisms,

8

Working in today’s IT support.

the city skylines would never havedeveloped. Can you imagine New
York without skyscrapers?
As the new possibilities wereopened up by the use of electricity
its transmission became a matterof fundamental significance forthe infrastructure of industrializedcountries and their economic development. Porcelain insulators, as
used for telegraph and telephone
cables, at first limited the maximum
voltage for overland cables to about
40 kV. As insulator technology developed – the suspension insulator
was invented in the USA in 1907 – it
was possible to constantly increase
the voltage: in 1912 the first 110 kV
cable was put into operation, in
1929 the first 220 kV cable and in1952 the first 380 kV cable. By the
1980s the maximum transmission
voltage had risen to 1,200 kV.

Coal as the fuelof electrification
From the beginning, coal-fired
power stations played an essential
role in the production of electricity.
Although the first power plants
had an efficiency rating of 1 %, i. e.
12.3 kg of coal were needed to
produce one kilowatt hour of electricity, improvements in combustion
technology and materials and process technology meant that efficiency increased constantly. In the
1910s an efficiency of 5 % wasachieved and by 1920 it was already
20 %. Coal was the most importantenergy source and there was agreat deal of dependence on its
availability. This unveiled the problems associated with an imbalancedenergy mix. The First World War in
Europe had given rise to supply
bottlenecks and among other things
had also brought about significant
reductions in rail traffic, which to agreat extent depended on coal-fired
steam locomotives.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerREPORT

Movie playing at Whitestone Bridge
drive-in, 1951, New York, USA.

In consequence the rail network
was electrified everywhere where
power production was cheap anddid not require expensive imports.
In the Alpine countries water power
made it possible to operate therailways with electricity, from 1918
onwards in Austria, Switzerland,
Bavaria, northern Italy and theFrench Alpine region.
Electrification proceeded at breakneck speed during the twenties andthirties, although at different speeds
and with different consequences forpeople’s lives. This was particularly
evident in North America where
cities like Chicago or New York werebathed in gleaming electric light andmany private households had electrical appliances to make everyday
life easier whereas on the farms inrural America water was still being
pumped by hand and homes were
heated with wood burning stoves.
Kerosene, oil lamps or candles
provided meager light during thehours of darkness, laundry and ironing were the most arduous of tasks

February 2007 I 15 I HyPower

Modern cinema complex at night,
California, USA.

which took up an enormous amountof time. This did not change until
the middle of the thirties when the
Rural Electrification Administration
brought electricity to millions of
those living in rural areas. Thisrequired over 560,000 kilometers(350,000 miles) of electric cable.

Water power, nuclear energy,
natural gas: the energy mix
diversifies
At the same time numerous largescale hydroelectric projects werestarted. The first generator on the
Hoover Dam was put into operation
and work on the Grand Coulee Damcommenced. The first six turbines
there were put into operation in
1942. Up until the 1980’s Grand
Coulee was continuously expandedwith additional turbine generator
units. With an output of over 6,800
MW it is still the largest hydroelectric power plant in the United States.

Later it was surpassed by evenlarger hydroelectric plants in
Krasnoyarsk, Soviet Union, Itaipú,
Brazil/Paraguay and, soon, Three
Gorges, China.
Since 1951 when the first experimental reactor in the state of Idaho
supplied electricity, nuclear power
stations have gained in importanceand today contribute about one fifthof the world’s energy production –somewhat more than is provided
by hydroelectric power throughout
the world. In the second half of thetwentieth century more and more
power was also being produced by
gas-fired power stations, but coalas the number one primary energy
source remained intact. In spite ofgrowing world electricity production
this will not change in the foreseeable future.

9

REPORT

Peru.

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February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerREPORT

India and China hungry
for electricity
The hunger for electricity is increasing all the time due to the hugedemand of the developing economies of China and India. These twocountries accounted for about 17 %of the world demand for energy in2004. Their share in the growth ofworld demand for energy from 1994
to 2004 at about 40 % makes the
dynamic growth of these countries
very clear: these are the future
markets for primary energy sources
and they will also help to determine
the world market prices for energy.
According to estimates produced by
the German Center for Technical
Information (FIZ) in Karlsruhe, theworld demand for power of about
15.7 million TWh in 2001 will morethan double by 2030.

Grid stability is ever more
important in the digital age
However, it is not only the demandfor electricity which is growing.
In our ever more digitized, networked and computerized world therequirements for reliability in power
supply are increasing. Even thebriefest of power interruptions of
1/60 th of a second can have dramatic consequences for technology
based on microprocessors. One of
the greatest challenges of the 21st
century is to guarantee necessary
grid stability. A high level of reliability in power supplies as in western
Europe can by no means be taken
for granted. One of the main problems is that in order to guarantee
grid stability and prevent voltages
from rising and falling, precisely thesame amount of electricity must be
supplied to the grid at any given

February 2007 I 15 I HyPower

moment as is being consumed.
To be able to quantify the behavior
of consumers within reasonable
limits is just as important as themedium-term predictability of thedevelopment of per capita electricity
demand. If, as a consequence ofeconomic growth in the newly
industrialized countries, millionsof new consumers suddenly add
their demand for electricity by turning on air conditioners, refrigeratorsand televisions to the grid, blackouts can soon follow.

Hydro power will have its
share in a diversified energy
mix
Industry and private households in
India and China will cause a dramatic increase in energy demand.
About three quarters of the electricity produced in China comes fromcoal-fired power stations; in India
it is about 60 %. Both countries are
becoming increasingly aware of
the environmental consequencesof this energy mix which has not yet
been diversified to a great extent.
In order to meet the rapidly increasing demand of their economies
these countries with populations in
the billions want to place a greater
reliance on renewable energies, inparticular by expanding hydroelectric power.
Mexico city.

The governments of both countries
clearly see the advantages ofhydroelectricity as a domestic, nonpolluting and secure form of energythat is virtually unsusceptible toprice fluctuations. The Ministry ofPower in India has launched an
ambitious program called “Power
for All”. Under this scheme, allindividual households are to beconnected to the power grid by
2012. It is intended to boost hydropower capacities to a desired shareof 40 %. The Chinese government
plans to increase the hydro power
sector by 8 % annually. Efforts tosignificantly expand the generationof emission-free hydroelectricity
are already under way. When fullycommissioned in 2009, Three
Gorges hydro power plant on the
Yangtse River with its foreseen
world record output of 18,200 MW,
will supply more than 100 million
people and the regional industry.
Several other major hydroelectric
projects are presently under construction, too. On the other hand,in Europe and North America where
the economically feasible hydropower potential is already utilized
to a high degree, pumped-storage
stations with their unique quality tostabilize the grid will become more
and more important.

Internet cafe in Oruro, Bolivia.

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TECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP

12

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerTECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP

Automated numerical analyses
for the design of electrical machines
Demands on electrical machine design are becoming more
and more diversified. The weighting of customer specification
among requests for high efficiency, low investment costs, lowmaintenance costs, and tight schedules varies depending on
national or local cost structure and philosophy. The design
methods in the engineering departments of power plant suppliers offer a wide range of design utilities in order to consider thecomplex interactions in each stage of the design process with
an appropriate degree of detailing.

A comparison with the analysis of
the hydraulic machine is helpful tounderstand the special challenge
and the advantages of numericalanalyses of electrical machines forhydro power plants.
Automation of the numerical analyses is only feasible if the reliabilityof the analysis is proven, and theautomation is only efficient if theanalysis is frequently applied.
Here, the term Numerical Analysis
is used as the super-ordinate term
for analyses based on the Finite
Element Method (FEM), Finite
Difference Method (FDM), Finite
Integration Method (FIM) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
based on Finite Volumes.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerClassic alternatives to numericalanalyses are analytical methods,
which can be divided into
䡲 close-form analytical solutionsof partial differential equationsand䡲 analytic expressions describing
isolated physical effects based on– first principles together withheuristic corrections or on– empiric parameter fitting ofheuristic expressions.

Coupled with the structural analyses by Finite Element programs,
a simultaneous hydraulic andmechanical layout of the hydrauliccomponents is created. The main
design criteria for the hydrauliclayout are fed by the results of theseanalyses.

Numerical analyses ofelectrical machines still facechallenges

Automated numerical analyses inelectrical machines are relatively
newly used, while they are a very
helpful software tool for years in
the hydraulic layout of turbines bymeans of automated Computational
Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analyses.

13

TECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP

Fluid dynamics

Thermal effects

Insulation system

Acoustics

Hydro turbine

Mechanics

Electro-magnetics

Electric gridControl, monitoring
Main mode of action

Figure 1: Physical domains related
to generator and couplings between
them.

Strong interconnection

Numerical analyses of complete
machines are still under development in electric machines for hydropower plants. Combinations ofanalytic approaches and numerical
techniques are typically used inelectromagnetic analyses.
The reason for the continuing useof analytical analyses in electricalmachine design is that numericalanalyses of electrical machines still
have some challenges that inhibit
the numerical computation of all
relevant effects in the electricalmachine.
Numerical analyses like FEM or
CFD of electrical machines face
several challenges that need to besolved in order to automate theanalyses for the design process.
The various physical domains that
dominate the layout of the electricmachine are: electromagnetics, highvoltage effects, mechanics, thermal
effects, fluid dynamics, acoustics,
and coupling to the electric grid andhydraulic system.

14

Weak interconnection

Some domains show strong couplings between each other (solid
arrows). Other show weak couplings(dashed arrows).
Dealing with non visible
quantities

Finite Element programs for electromagnetics still have weaknesses,
e. g. in considering eddy currents,
moving components, and iron loss
mechanisms. Due to the electromagnetic skin effect the machineconsists of very small components
like steel sheets and stranded
conductors. But they interact overlong distances. This scale problem
requires computers with vast memory and correspondingly longcomputation times.
Full 3D transient analysis of allelectromagnetic effects in the electric machine is not (yet) feasible.
Therefore, appropriate sub-models
and combinations with analytical
calculations have to be chosen.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerTECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIPIn electromagnetic analyses nonvisible quantities like magnetic
vector potentials, vector fields ofmagnetic field strength, magnetization and current density must be
dealt with. Thus, post-processing
the results is not as obvious as forexample in mechanical analyses.

This provides a basis for understanding even more complicateddependencies than was possible
with only analytical approaches.

Complex challenges of hetero-

During the design of an electricalmachine the engineers can use
a wide range of software tools to
make the design according to theexternal and internal requirements.
In order to get appropriate design
suggestions and decisions in time,the design engineer has to balancecalculation time, accuracy, detailing,
and flexibility. In early stages of the
project, the detailing cannot be very
high, as not many details have yet
been defined. Flexibility in thegeometry and materials is especially important for modernization
projects or unusual designs.

geneous and jagged structures

Modeling of heterogeneous structures such as the rotor rim, thestator core or the stator winding
affords quite detailed models thatcannot be solved for the complete
machine. Thus, appropriate methods to derive homogenized simulation models have to be applied.
CFD of the cooling and ventilationof the machine has to deal withjagged structures and consequently
quite complex flow and heat transfer
situations.
Harder than it seems:
understanding the results

If you derive analytical expressions
for a certain problem, you automatically try to understand the physics
behind the problem and divide themixture of effects into distinct
effects. If you just apply numericalanalyses, you do not need to understand the separate effects. The user
nonetheless needs to understandwhat happens to recognize systematic dependencies. It is possible
to bring the two approaches numerical analyses and analytical solutions together by analyzing parameter studies on numerical analyses
using the old knowledge of electrical machine calculation.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerElectrical machine design
never starts with automatednumerical analyses

Automated numerical analyses areapplied more and more in the second half of the basic engineering
process, where accurate calculationof machine parameters and characteristics, losses, temperatures,forces and stresses is required.
In order to provide fast and accurate
calculations, the automated numerical analyses are used to derive
analytical expressions to describe
important dependencies in theelectrical machine. Design guidelines are derived from thesedependencies to provide the design
engineer with straightforward design
rules.

Automatic numerical analysis steps
1. Preliminary electromagnetic layout with
software tools based on analytic relations and optimization environment.
2. Transfer of preliminary layout to userinterface for detail configuration ofgeometry, load cases, post processing
quantities, and finite element analysis
setup.
3. Automatic generation and parameterization of CAD model and export ofgeometry to finite element tool.
4. Automatic analysis of the specified loadcases and post-processing quantities.
This step includes meshing, applying
boundary conditions and various loadcases, solving, and post-processing.
This step affords CPU time and commercial software licenses.
5. Multi-physics analyses additionallyafford special consideration of thecoupling of the physical domains
electromagnetics (voltages, current
densities, currents, eddy current densities, magnetic field quantities, flux lines,
saturation levels, forces), temperature,mechanics (displacements, forces,
stresses).

15

TECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP

Figure 4: Parametric CAD models
for automated numerical analyses.

Stator core

16

Automated numerical analyses

Advantages for the customer

speed up modelingand the supplier

In many of the electromagnetic
problems on electrical machines,
which great engineers worked onwith analytical approaches forthe last 100 years, the numericalanalysis provides accurate results
for less idealizing assumptions.
Of course, the large number ofproblems solved with analyticalmethods and verified by a huge
number of measurements is used
to verify the results of numericalanalyses by calculating the ideal
set-up with each numerical analysis.
In order to carry out these comparisons, you need to have themodeling and the numerical analysis automated, and the detailingmust be appropriate. Consequently,
the tools to prove superiority withrespect to precision of the numericalanalyses over analytic approaches
are available. Of course, computational effort is still an issue, but
automated instead of interactivemodeling and post-processing
accelerates the analysis process
significantly and releases the engineer from repeated similar modeling work.

The standardized and frequent
application of numerical analyses
during the design of electricalmachines offers advantages for
suppliers and customers of hydropower plants. The ability of numerical analyses to calculate withsmaller uncertainty allows more
precise optimization for the customer requirements. Thus, during themachine design process, fewer
safeguards for compensating possible statistical influences are needed. This opens opportunities formore efficient machines or manyother design criteria.

Stator bar segment

Radial fan

As numerical analyses have abroader application range thanempirically corrected analytic methods, they also offer a high reliability
for design variants that are moreinnovative than the standard andexperience-proven designs.

Stator coil winding

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerTECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP

This advantage is more relevant for
R&D than for automated analyses
during project execution, as theresults of such investigations on
new design variants have to be
proven by additional tests before
they are applied in the daily engineering process.
In the modernization business, you
are often faced with designs fromother manufacturers that differ fromthe own company standards andneed to be understood and verified
before changes in the machine are
initiated. The company proprietary
analytical methods might not beapplicable for these foreign designs.

In this case, slight adjustments ofthe standardized automated numerical analysis according to the design
features of the existing machine
also allow quite a fast application of
the automated analyses for thesemachines.
For machines with high utilization,
it is important to know the spatial
distribution of quantities like temperature or magnetic induction, as
peak values limit utilization.
The automated numerical analysis
offers the possibility of investigating
this detail information for a large
number of machines.
Automation of numericalanalyses: a good investment

Rotor pole

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerIn many cases it is efficient to invest
in the development of automatednumerical analysis tools, as they
enable design engineers of electrical machines to optimize themachine with low effort more precisely with respect to customer
defined criteria, internal processes,
external boundary conditions (likeraw material cost) and the level ofdetailing of the used calculation.

Numerical analyses in electricalmachines will still be focused ona wide range of sub-models overthe next years, as the numericalanalysis of all physical effects in
one simulation model of the complete electrical machine still faces
too many challenges. Nevertheless,the implementation of several automated numerical analyses of submodels shows the wide application
range of this method for the designof leading-edge electrical machines
for hydro power units.
The knowledge of how to build amachine in order to optimize it still
has a strong source in experience,
analytical descriptions and engineering intuition, but it is significantly enriched by the intelligent analysis of representative parameterstudies on automated numericalanalyses.

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TECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP

Figure 5: Power loss density in circuit
rings and flux lines in surrounding air.

Figure 6: Magnetic inductionin the stator core lamination.

Figure 7: Temperature of surrounding steel
components (here: stator frame neck andbracket) due to eddy current heating.

Examples of numerical analy-

As the finite element analysis canconsider the interaction of thecurrent distribution of all circuit ringleads and the surrounding magnetic
steel components for arbitrary crosssections, it is superior to analyticalsolutions that always have to deal
with idealized geometries. It takes
less than one minute for this automated analysis to consider several
different cross sections and thecalculation of total circuit ring losses
and maximum temperature.

ses in electrical machines

In order to perform numerical analyses of generator components parametrically, the preparation of parametric CAD models is an important
step for the automation of the analysis process. The detailing of the
CAD models used for machine
design usually has to be reduced inorder to perform efficient numericalanalyses. Periodic segments areoften sufficient.
Figures 5 to 10 show examples ofmore or less automated numericalanalyses of components of electrical machines.
Figure 5 shows the results of anelectromagnetic 2D-axis-symmetriclinear harmonic finite element analysis, which investigates the current
density distribution and the heatingof the tubular circuit ring leads ofthe three phases at one locationof the circumference.

18

Figure 6 shows the results of anelectromagnetic 2D planar nonlinear
time transient finite element analysis, which is used to investigate theinfluence of design details on themagnetic circuit for arbitrary loadcases. Analytical methods such as
magnetic equivalent circuit diagrams and conformal mapping are
only able to consider the inhomogeneous saturation of the active ironin a restricted manner.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerTECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP

Figure 8: CFD analysis of a radial fan.

Figure 9: Electric potential at a semiconductive corona protection of thestator end winding.

Figure 7 shows the results of anelectromagnetic and thermal 3D
nonlinear harmonic finite element
analysis of the eddy current heatingof the steel components surrounding the circuit ring leads and theterminal leads. This automatedanalysis considers the saturation
dependent skin effect of the eddy
currents in the steel components
and is used to determine whether
or not a copper shielding for the
steel components is recommended.

Figure 10 shows the results of avery detailed mechanical 3D nonlinear finite element load step analysis of a periodic segment of a rotor
rim. The detailed model considers
elastic plastic material properties,
friction and contact between sheets
and bolts. The results are used toautomatically derive a homogenized material law, which is later
applied in a nonlinear mechanicalanalysis of the complete rotor toinvestigate and optimize the behavior of the rotor during extreme load
sequences.

Figure 8 shows the results of a 3D
fluid dynamics analysis of a radial
fan for the cooling ventilation of theelectrical machine. The automated
CFD analysis derives the pressureflow characteristics of the fan forvarious geometry variants.
Figure 9 shows the results of anelectrodynamic 2D nonlinear timetransient finite element analysisof the capacitive currents and theelectric field strength in and near
the semi-conductive corona protection of the insulation system of thestator end winding.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPower

Figure 10: Nonlinear stress-strain analysis
of a periodic segment of a rotor rim forhomogenized FE analysis.

Further examples
The following is a typical list of further
electromagnetic investigations, where
automation of numerical analyses brings
significant advantages:• Distributed iron loss calculation in thestator core
• Detailed geometry modeling of the criticalcomponents and regions– clamping bolts (stator and rotor)– fixation systems (pole and stator core)– stator winding and slot region– damper winding and pole shoes– magnetically high saturated regions• Damper currents in special load cases• Influence of grids with many frequency
converters (e. g. railway grid with power
feedback) or other strong sources ofharmonics• Calculation of harmonics of magnetic
field, electric current, and voltage, andcalculation of their influence on losses,
forces and temperatures• Load-dependent leakage flux components

AuthorDr.-Ing. Stefan Lahres
Team Leader,
Generator Physics Modeling,
Heidenheim, Germany• Stefan.Lahres@vs-hydro.com

19

MANUFACTURING

Huang Dinan, President of SEC, Shanghai
Electric Corporation (left) and Dr. Hubert
Lienhard, CEO of Voith Siemens Hydro,
jointly unveil the corner stone of the newgenerator factory.

Aage Dalsjoe, President Voith Siemens
Hydro Shanghai and host of the ceremony
during his opening speech.

Yang Qing, Deputy General Manager
from China Three Gorges Project
Corporation (CTGPC).

Groundbreaking ceremony
for Shanghai generator factoryWith a solemn groundbreaking ceremony, rounded off with fireworks and corner stone unveiling, Voith Siemens Hydro recently
celebrated the start of construction of its new generator factoryin Shanghai.

Joining Voith Siemens Hydro’s
Brazilian, North American, andSwedish facilities for generator
manufacturing expertise, theShanghai location will now develop
into a full-fledged generator manufacturing workshop.
With this new Chinese electricalfacility, that is to start operation on
an area of 3,200 square metersby the end of 2007, Voith Siemens
Hydro will tighten its establishedglobal network for generator manufacturing in close proximity to customers in all important hydro power
markets.

20

The company will invest approximately seven million Euros in thisnew generator manufacturing facility, which will employ approximately
80 people when it opens.

AuthorClare Chen
Communications Coordinator,
Shanghai, China• Clare.Chen@vs-hydro.com

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerMANUFACTURING

New German workshop
for generator rehabilitation and service
The Heidenheim location of Voith Siemens Hydro has been the“cradle” of Voith’s hydro activities since its first turbine delivery
in 1870. It has ever since been a location with first-class manufacturing expertise and services.

Developing from a completely
Germany-based workshop to a
global enterprise over 140 years,
Voith Siemens Hydro’s manufacturing structures and locations havechanged and expanded into markets where hydro power today is amajor resource. Still, the Heidenheim workshop to-date works on
the whole range of equipment frombearings to complete runners for
its mainly German and European
customers. Modernization andrehabilitation constitute the main
business with these customers.
But also business for new plants
has recently taken up pace in andaround Germany, Europe, and othermarkets of the German operating
unit.

Stacking of new stator cores,
assembly of stator windings andre-insulation of poles will be feasible
beginning in spring 2007. Projects
are already booked from Kenya,
Albania, Germany, Switzerland
and Portugal. The workshop will
be equipped with state-of-the-art
machines and tools.

AuthorAlexander Schechner
Head of Plant Service,
Heidenheim, Germany• Alexander.Schechner@vs-hydro.com

Outside view of Voith Siemens Hydro
Kraftwerkstechnik building, Heidenheim.

What is new: in order to better serve
electrical rehabilitation in thesemarkets, Voith Siemens Hydro
Kraftwerkstechnik in Heidenheim
has started to implement completely
new work areas for the rehabilitationof generator stators and rotors.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPower21

ACQUISITIONVG Power
A Voith and Siemens Company

Stornorrfors generator rehabilitation
through VG Power.

VG Power office buildingin Västerås.

Voith Siemens Hydro is majority shareholder
of Swedish VG Power AB
Voith Siemens Hydro has acquired the majority of shares of VG
Power AB in September of 2006. The Swedish hydro specialist
focuses on modernization, rehabilitation, upgrading, as well
as service and repair of electrical equipment for existing hydropower plants, but also on design and manufacture of new
generators for hydro power plants.

Voith Siemens Hydro now also
has a location in Sweden: Västerås,and is thus strengthening its presence in the Scandinavian market.
The strong focus of VG Power on
generator rehabilitation increases
the expertise in this field. For VG
Power, joining forces with Voith
will open up an enormous growthpotential in the worldwide hydromarket. The strategic goals of thetwo companies complement eachother perfectly. Last summer, Voith
Siemens Hydro already acquired a
51 % majority in VG Power.

The business of this young company, founded in 2002, and employing 50 people, is primarily based on
the rehabilitation and modernizationof generators for hydro power stations. But service and maintenanceas well as the production of new
generators for hydro power plants inScandinavia and beyond also contribute to the success of VG Power.

AuthorChristian Hauff
Integration Manager,
Heidenheim, Germany• Christian.Hauff@vs-hydro.com

22

February 2007 I 15 I HyPower

SWEDEN

Ligga hydro unit refurbishment
awarded by Vattenfall
Voith Siemens Hydro received a contract from Vattenfall,
Sweden, for a major turbine refurbishment for Ligga hydropower station’s unit 3, with the option of overhauling unit 2,
as well.

In a signing ceremony at the headquarters of Vattenfall Vattenkraft AB
in Luleå, the two companies celebrated a new era of collaboration, as
this is the first time that Vattenfall AB
contracted Voith Siemens Hydro asa supplier for turbine equipment.
Ligga hydro power station is locatedaround 20 kilometers north of
Jokkmokk in Lapland. Ligga’s unit 3
was installed in 1982, and was, atthat time, the most powerful Kaplan
turbine in the world, with a capacityof 189 MW. Today, this unit is still
the most powerful Kaplan unit installed in Sweden.

The new design of the refurbishedrunner from Voith Siemens Hydro
will be model-tested at the Vattenfall
laboratory in Älvkarleby in spring
2007.
Voith Siemens Hydro’s upgrade of
the turbine will be undertaken at thesite in a consortium with Vattenfall
Service Nord, Sweden. It includes
installation of a new oilless hub
runner with improved performanceand a new high-pressure oil system,– both measures to further strengthen Vattenfall Vattenkraft AB’s position as an industry leader in thegeneration of environmentallyfriendly energy.

Having won the award for the modernization of Ligga is of great
importance to Voith Siemens Hydro,
as the company has just emphasized its strong interest in the nordic
market by its recent acquisition ofa majority share of VG Power AB in
Sweden, a well-established company in the field of major generator
rehabilitation.

AuthorJörg-Peter Albrecht
Sales & Marketing Manager,
Heidenheim, Germany• Joerg-Peter.Albrecht@vs-hydro.com

February 2007 I 15 I HyPower

23

ELECTRICAL EXPERTISE

Factory acceptance test teamwith the customer of Savalen.

Lake Savalen.

First ThyriconTM 600 systeminstalled at Norway’s Savalen
Savalen hydro power station, operated by the Norwegian energy
supplier Eidsiva, has recently been connected to the grid,equipped with the first Voith Siemens Hydro Thyricon 600 unit.

It supplies up to 4,000 ampere
excitation current and can be usedeven for particularly powerful generators with capacities of over
700 MW. After Thyricon 400 and
500, Voith Siemens Hydro now
has another important milestone
project in this performance class.
The Thyricon 600 system for Savalen was developed by the Voith
Siemens Hydro units in Trondheim
and São Paulo, and produced in
Trondheim. “Thyricon” as a productname is now a registered trademark
in Europe in the meantime.

24

The Thyricon family is a modular
excitation system that can be customized to individual requirements
over a wide application range.
All hydro power generators andmotors from 0.5 to 800 MW can beprovided with an optimized solution.
The excitation system is equippedwith digital voltage regulators thatallow rapid grid response. A powersystem stabilizer, minimizing power
oscillations, can also be added.

AuthorGeir Småøien
Manager Excitation Systems,
Trondheim, Norway• Geir.Smaaoeien@vs-hydro.com

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerELECTRICAL EXPERTISE

Herdecke pump-turbine, Germany.

HyConTM 400 control system for Germany’s
150 MW Herdecke pumped storage plant
RWE Power AG has awarded Voith Siemens Hydro with therefurbishment of the 150 MW Koepchenwerk pumped storage
plant near Herdecke, Germany. The plant was built new 1985 to
1989 as the successor of the old Koepchenwerk commissioned
in 1930 as one of the first pumped storage plants of its time,
decommissioned in 1994.

The scope of supply is comprisedof a process control system and a
HyCon 400 digital turbine governor.
When the project is completed,other plants of the upper and lower
Ruhr will be operated from the newcentral control room at Koepchenwerk, too.
HyCon 400 is based on a standard Siemens automation system
optimized with hydro specific function modules developed by Voith
Siemens Hydro. The main features
include a local operator panel whichis independent from the central
operator system and the centralizedengineering station for parameterization of the different automationlevels of the control configuration.
A redundant automation systemguarantees high availability.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerThe newly installed flexible control
system will improve and optimize
process control during daily operation. To save costs an existing pager
system and video observation will
be integrated into the new solution.
Voith Siemens Hydro will also supply a complete set of new upgradedrotor poles and refurbish the intermediate shaft.
The new Koepchenwerk is locatedat the north bank of the Ruhr River
where the impoundment is located,
forming Lake Hengstey. The upper
reservoir of the pumped storagehydro power station has a capacityof nearly 1.6 million cubic meters.
This represents a stored energy
capacity of 590 MWh, i. e. a fullreservoir allows the power plant
to operate four hours at full-load.

Author
Dieter Meyer
Senior Project Manager
Automation,
Heidenheim, Germany• Dieter.Meyer@vs-hydro.com

25

ELECTRICAL EXPERTISE

St. Pölten strong pillar
in terms of generators
Traditionally more geared toward the production of hydromechanical components, the Austrian facility of Voith Siemens
Hydro has recently also become an important center of expertise in the area of generator technology.

Akköprü power house view.

The operating unit is currently
involved in numerous new projects
for 14 generators made for six
projects in two countries in Southeastern Europe and in the Middle
East. Also, an extraordinary “backlog” of 164 governors contracted
from 47 hydro power plants for new
turbines or turbine and governor
modernizations and stand-alone
projects are currently in production.
At present, the St. Pölten location
is working on four projects in Turkey,
supplying and installing a total of
five generators with a total output
of approximately 233 MVA for the
new construction of the Akköy andUluabat hydroelectric power plants.
Moreover, an additional contract isunder way for two generators of
46 MVA each for the Akocak project.
Also, in February 2006, DSI, theTurkish state-owned power company, awarded St. Pölten a contract
to equip the Akköprü hydroelectric
project.

26

The scope of delivery is comprisedof two 65 MVA generators and two
59.3 MW vertical Francis turbines,
including turbine governors, automation technology, transformers,
and transformer stations.
The Akköprü power plant is scheduled to be connected to the gridin 2008. With a power production of
343 GWh annually, it will contributea large portion of Turkey’s energy
generation from hydro power.
Due to a heavily growing energy
demand, Turkey has started numerous hydro power projects. By 2023,
the country wants to increase its
power production through hydropower to 433,000 GWh.
St. Pölten is also involved in two
power plant projects in Iran: It currently is supplying a new 81.5 MVA
generator for Marun II and looks
forward to an additional contract for
four 300 MVA motor-generators incooperation with the Brazilian andJapanese operating units of Voith
Siemens Hydro.

AuthorClaudia Wildthan
Communications Coordinator,
St. Pölten, Austria• Claudia.Wildthan@vs-hydro.com

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerCROATIA

Modernization in Zakucac
Winning competitive model tests, Voith Siemens Hydro wasawarded the contract for modernizing and upgrading four
vertical Francis turbines and spherical valves for the Zakucachydro power station. After re-commissioning, the most importanthydro power plant in Croatia will generate 600 MW of clean,renewable energy.

Zakucac had originally been built
in two stages. The first stage iscomprised of units 1 and 2, 110 MW
turbine generators, supplied byVoith in 1961. About 19 years later
the second stage was erected
including an additional headracetunnel with surge chamber andpenstocks, feeding two new units
with 270 MW of total capacity.
All electromechanical equipment isinstalled in an underground cavern.
The tailrace system directs thewater through a 350 m long tunnel
out of the power house back to the
Cetina River, just 1700 m upstreamof its estuary to the Adriatic Sea.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerWith the specific role and importance of the power plant in the
Croatian electric power system
in mind – Zakucac is Croatia’slargest hydro power plant – theoperator’s expectations for the
refurbishment were high. Intensive
investigation and hydraulic development, both in CFD analyses andconventional model testing, wasrequired. The main focus of the
upgrade was increased power from
110 to 150 MW while keeping thealready excellent cavitation performance of the existing units.
Final evaluation of the offers wasdone by considering the results ofthe competitive model tests in an
independent laboratory between
the two highest evaluated bidders.

Voith Siemens Hydro’s model
showed the best performance, themeasured mean weighted efficiency
was even slightly higher than thestated guarantees. With the awardof the contract for Zakucac, Voith
Siemens Hydro continues its longand successful relationships in
Croatia.

AuthorThomas Maurer
General Project Manager,
St. Pölten, Austria• Thomas.Maurer@vs-hydro.com

27

HUNGARY

Modernization of Tiszalök plantin Hungarian national park
With the modernization of the Tiszalök hydroelectric plant,
Voith Siemens Hydro further expands its activities in Hungary.
The renovation of the mechanical and technical components of
the 50-year-old plant on the Tisza River will begin in November
2007.

28

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerHUNGARYThis new contract was awarded by
the operator, Tiszaviz Vizeroemue
KFT, Tiszalök, for whom Voith
Siemens Hydro, in cooperation with
Siemens RT Budapest, had recently
updated the Kisköre power plant tostate-of-the-art-technology from2002 to 2006
Tiszalök currently operates withthree vertical 4.5 MW Kaplan turbines, which will be rehabilitatedand partially renewed in the coming
years. The contract also includes
the installation of new Kaplan runners, discharge rings, wicket gateswith gate accessories, thrust bearing parts with instruments, newturbine governors, automation andcontrol equipment, including static
excitation systems and generator
parts.

The modernization of the units willtake place at yearly intervals; completion of all work is scheduled forAugust 2010.
Not only installed capacity, but also
power production will be increasedby more than 10 percent throughthis modernization, resulting in anannual output of 54.5 GWh. Thus,
the energy obtained from the Tisza
River will be increased without
affecting the environment throughconstruction – an important contribution to protection of the landscape in the area that is part of
Hungary’s largest national parkand UNESCO World Heritage Site
Hortobágy.

The Tiszalök power plant, built in
the 1950’s, is considered a technological monument to this day. As thefirst dam of Lake Tisza does not
only provide energy but also irrigation. In the 1970’s, a second dam
was built for the Kisköre power plantcreating a new man-made lake witha surface area of approximately
127 square kilometers; it is one of
Hungary‘s largest inland waters.

AuthorAnton Huber
General Project Manager,
St. Pölten, Austria• Anton.Huber@vs-hydro.com

February 2007 I 15 I HyPower29

AFGHANISTAN

A special field service challenge
in Afghanistan
In 2003 and 2004, the US and German operating units of Voith
Siemens Hydro were awarded the Kajakaj, Sarobi and Mahipar
modernization projects in Afghanistan. For the three power
plants, the supply was shared between US and German operating
units while all field service activities were handled from Voith
Siemens Hydro in Germany.

The difficulty in recruiting experts
available to work in crisis areas inconjunction with the breadth of thequalifications required to cope withthe scope of supply, were just someof the problems to be solved.

30

The safety and security of thepeople working at site was Voith
Siemens Hydro’s main concern.
In this regard, security plans covering everything from touch-down at
Kabul airport to the camps and to
the power stations, were deeply
studied and regularly checked.
The security infrastructure wasbased on an efficient and reliable
satellite communication system.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerAFGHANISTAN

The overlapping of the two projects
made it almost impossible to havethe same team working on both ofthem.
The logistics of Kajakaj, locatednear Kandahar, a region protectedby U.S. troups, made it necessary
for people to live within a campattached to the power station andprotected by 180 soldiers. People
landing in Kabul were transferredby helicopter to the site. The fivehour journey was less than comfortable. Each pilot had its own safety
strategy: one was flying close to theground, the other at an elevation of
3,000 feet.
The two power plants of Sarobi
and Mahipar are located near Kabul
on the main road to Jalalabad.
The large portion of machining
existing components required theinstallation of a manufacturing
facility in Kabul. Therefore, theSarobi and Mahipar site manager
was in charge of three working
sites.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerIn addition to normal duty, an important task for the site managers wasto keep morale high and maintaining a relationship with the local
security forces.
The modernization of the turbine
and the need to assess, repair andrecommission the existing mechanical governor, generator, excitation
and auxiliary systems, which werecompletely obsolete, required themobilization of more than 15 technicians in Kajakaj coming from various countries.
The Sarobi and Mahipar team wasformed by more than 20 experts
with international experience fromother Voith Siemens Hydro projects
worldwide. The scope included therehabilitation of the turbine and generators, new governors, excitation,
automation and protection systems,
switchyard equipment, and more.

Despite the challenges and theextreme weather conditions during
the winter of 2004-05, the most
severe in the last 30 years, theKajakaj unit was put into commercial operation 20 days ahead ofschedule.
The first unit of Sarobi had beencommissioned on time in November
2006, despite the delayed starting
date and multiple interruptions.
Voith Siemens Hydro staff willremain one more year to complete
the remaining three units. Upon
their completion and their commissioning, the three power plants will
constitute 20 % to Afghanistan’s
overall power generation capacity
and have a share of more than one
third in the country’s hydro capacity.
Author
Dr. Luciano Lorenzini
Head of Plant and Field
Service,
Heidenheim, Germany• Luciano.Lorenzini@vs-hydro.com

31

INDIA

View inside the powerhouse.

Visitor delegation at the site.

Omkareshwar construction site.

Indian Omkareshwar progressing well
Following the installation of the first units for the new
Omkareshwar hydroelectric power plant in India, Voith Siemens
Hydro is poised to provide more positive interim results. All work
was completed within the specified limits and some future work
could even be completed earlier than planned.

The power plant on the Narmada
river near the city of Madhya
Pradesh is to be connected to thegrid at the end of 2007 and will, witha total installed capacity of 520 MW,
significantly contribute to the subcontinent‘s growing energy demand.
Voith Siemens Hydro as the turnkey
contractor, entrusted in 2003 withoff- and on-shore supplies of electro-mechanical equipment as well
as all inland services such as sitestorage, erection, testing, and commissioning of all electro-mechanicalcomponents, supplies eight 65 MW
power units, comprising Francis
turbines and the relating generators.

The project must be completed injust under 48 months – a task thatplaces high demands on all involvedin terms of technology and logistics.
The collaboration with new partners
as well as complex logistics processes during the component’s
transportation from Europe, Brazil
and China to India presented newchallenges for the project teamwhich were successfully mastered.
The last unit will be turned over tothe customer in October 2007.
AuthorWerner Kellner
General Project Manager,
Heidenheim, Germany• Werner.Kellner@vs-hydro.com

32

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerSOUTH AMERICA

Moyopampa, Peru.

Salto Pilão and Peruvian Moyopampa
stand out among São Paulo projects
The first steps have been taken
towards the implementation of a
new Brazilian hydro power plant:
the Salto Pilão hydroelectric power
plant, to be constructed in the Stateof Santa Catarina. Initial excavationand project access construction as
well as project detailing started inearly August of last year.
When completed in 2010, SaltoPilão will generate 181 MW.
The EPC contract 45 million Euro
share for Voith Siemens Hydro, wassigned in 2003 and became effective last month through activationof the investor group Consórcio
Investidor Salto Pilão, comprising
the Votorantim Group (Cements),
Camargo Correa Energias SA(Cements) and DME Energia Ltda.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPower

Being fully responsible for the overall supply of the electromechanicalequipment, Voith Siemens Hydro
will, from June 2007 on, manufacture two 93 MW vertical Francis
turbines and two 101 MVA verticalgenerators as well as other components. The company is also responsible for erection supervision, erection and commissioning. The startof commercial operation of units
number 1 and 2 is scheduled for
November 2009 and January 2010
respectively.
Four new runners
for Moyopampa

Voith Siemens Hydro São Paulo
has also recently received a contract by the Peruvian facility Empresa de Generacion (EDEGEL) to
refurbish two generating units for its
Moyopampa hydro power station.
Each unit has two Pelton runners
at a rated capacity of 12.5 MW.
The first of the runners shall berecommissioned by July 2007.

AuthorRenata Presta
Communication Coordinator,
São Paulo, Brazil• Renata.Presta@vs-hydro.com

33

NORTH AMERICA

Revelstoke startinghydro power series in Canada
With its many hydro resources, rivers and lakes, Canada isrich in its resources of hydro power. Approximately 60 percent
of electricity comsumption by Canadians is produced fromthe power of water. Installed hydro power capacity is about
69,500 MW in this country.

The current project development
supports the strong dynamics in the
Canadian hydro market. Over thelast three years, several projects
were launched to ensure new energy supply from renewable sourcesin the country. Voith Siemens Hydrois pleased to participate in thisdevelopment with projects like
La Tuque, Mercier and Revelstoke.
In September 2006, British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority
awarded Voith Siemens Hydro withthe delivery of a 512 MW Francis
turbine and a 532 MVA generator
for the extension of the Revelstoke
project. Currently, model testing isbeing conducted.

34

The Canadian hydro power market
is very active. In the province ofQuébec alone, projects with a totalof 3,000 MW in the next five years
are being planned and Ontario andManitoba also want to expand theirhydro power capacities.
Voith Siemens Hydro is prepared
for this development and has established a new location in Montréal
in order to be a close partner to the
Canadian customers. The Montréal
location is responsible for marketing, engineering, and project management.

High quality products and the combined expertise of the hydro professionals of the German and theCanadian units of Voith Siemens
Hydro guarantee the best possible
solution and aim to be the supplierof choice for future projects in
Canada.

AuthorDenys TurcottePresident and CEO,Montréal, Canada• Denys.Turcotte@vs-hydro.com

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerNORTH AMERICA

Holtwood plant.

Holtwood expansion project in the US
PPL Generation, LLC of Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA, is studying a proposal for the expansion of its Holtwood hydroelectric
plant in conjunction with the plant’s Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) license renewal.

The objective of the expansion
would be additional power generation and environmental improvements for migratory fish passage.
If PPL goes ahead with the expansion, it would approximately double
the generating capacity of theexisting plant located in Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania, on theSusquehanna River. Contingent
on a final decision to proceed withthe project, PPL has chosen Voith
Siemens Hydro to design two new
65 MW Kaplan turbine generator
units, governors, exciters, controls
and protection, generator switchgear and related plant and unit
auxiliary systems.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerPPL selected Voith Siemens Hydro
after a complete evaluation of competitive bids as PPL continues toevaluate the project. Manufactureof the equipment will not begin until
PPL makes a final decision onwhether to proceed with the expansion. No timetable for that decision
has been announced.

AuthorRobert Baginski
Offer Project Manager,
York, PA, USA• Robert.Baginski@vs-hydro.com

35

AUSTRIA

50 years of the Jochensteinhydroelectric power station
Exactly fifty years ago, in 1956, the Jochenstein Danube hydroelectric power station began operation as the then largest runof-river power station in Central Europe.

The owner, Donaukraftwerk Jochenstein AG and the operator, Grenzkraftwerke GmbH, have used thisoccasion to host an event at thepower station. High-ranking representatives from the worlds of politics and commerce of Austria andGermany attended the anniversarycelebrations.

36

Voith Siemens Hydro was represented by executives from its
German and Austrian operating
units.
During a panel discussion, representatives of the owner and politicians highlighted the significanceof the power station for the energy
industry and the cross-borderregional policy.

Jochenstein was constructed
between 1952 and 1956 as a crossborder power station following agovernmental agreement between
the Federal Republic of Germany,
the Free State of Bavaria, andAustria. This is why the national
border between Germany andAustria runs down the center ofthe river in the project area.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerAUSTRIA

Each of the five vertical Kaplan
turbines generate 29 MW using
a flow of 410 cubic meters per
second.
To ensure the flow and flood control, the power station is equippedwith six sets of weirs. For shipping,
two lock chambers were constructed – passage through the locks isfree for shipping but entails a power
generation loss amounting to
1,000 kWh for the power station.
Voith Siemens Hydro is the supplierof three of the Kaplan turbines andtwo of the generators. Rehabilitation
works on one of the turbines havebeen executed in 2003, comprisingguide bearings, shaft seals, shaft
and runner changes, including
coated runner blades.
The average annual energy generated is 850 GWh. A fossil-fuelledpower station would need to burn1,900 tons of mineral oil or 2,800
tons of coal to achieve this output.
This hydro installation avoids theemission of 7,600 tons of carbon
dioxide.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPower

Each year, the 2,000 cubic metresof debris which is removed from the
Danube with a mobile rake-type
cleaning system, also supplied byVoith Siemens Hydro, is sent forenvironmentally friendly recycling.
Even after 50 years of operation,
the Jochenstein power station
continues to be a model for environmentally friendly, long-term energy
generation at the highest level of
efficiency.
A noteworthy aspect is the way thepower station was carefully andharmoniously integrated into thelandscape thanks to the beautifully
designed facade designs and theuse of local stone.
A particularly admired feature is
the outstanding architectural designof the structure. It is dominated bya curved line – an extremely rarefeature for run-of-river power stations. Also worthy of comment is thedesign of the weir bridge acrossthe spillway sections, which passes
through the arches in the weircolumns and, with its granite cladding and striking lighting, createsa scene far removed from purely
industrial architecture.

The architectural lines are also
picked up visually inside the power
station.
As part of the anniversary celebrations, a film illustrating the construction and special features of the
Jochenstein power station waspresented. This film was produced
by a professional film team to celebrate the first 50 years and laterbroadcast on television and was
supported by various partners to
the power station, including Voith
Siemens Hydro. It is available inGerman language from the tourist
office in Engelhartszell,
karin.wundsam@engelhartszell.
ooe.gv.at

AuthorAnton Mitteregger
Marketing Manager
Sales Department,
St.Pölten, Austria• Anton.Mitteregger@vs-hydro.com

37

NEWS

ProfessorshipendowedGhazi Barotha
Pakistan

Enhancing development

Minister recognizes

in hydrosuccessful commissioning

Voith Siemens Hydro is supporting the German facility EnBW’s
dedication to endow a professorship for hydro power at Stuttgart
University for hydro power technology research and development.
Voith Siemens Hydro will present
its support by placing developmenttasks for research support at thischair. Scientific support from a third
party institution such as a university
is often required.

Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Federal
Minister for Railways of the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan recently visited
Voith Headquarters in Heidenheim,
Germany. In addition to exchanging
ideas with Voith Turbo’s Board ofManagement, he met with Dr. Siegbert Etter, Chief Technical Officer
of Voith Siemens Hydro and Martin
Andrä, CEO of the German operating unit. He acknowledged thesuccessful commissioning of Ghazi
Barotha, a hydro power plant located in Pakistan’s northwest region
on the Indus River for which Voith
Siemens Hydro has supplied five
295 MW Francis turbines. Thesemachines generate clean renewableenergy at 97.22 % efficiency, making them one of the most impressive efficiency performances everreached in a turbine. The Federal
Minister also paid a visit to Voith
Siemens Hydro’s Research andDevelopment facilities in Heidenheim’s Brunnenmühle, where themodel turbines had been developed
and tested.

Voith Siemens Hydro and EnBW
aim at strengthening scientificexpertise and know-how in hydropower technologies in one ofGermany’s most important research
institutions. This way, technicaldevelopment in the field of hydropower generation is not only
enhanced but expertise and skills
for engineers in this industry are
maintained and improved.

38

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerNEWS

Ponte Pià
Italy

German-Chilean
Energy Forum

Italian power as a role model

Discussing opportunities on

for India

hydro power and ocean energy

The Indian Renewable Energy
Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA)
is a pioneer in spearheading the
movement of renewable energy
projects in India by providing financing to small hydro and other renewable energy projects. Ireda has
financed more than 100 small hydropower projects in India. During the2006 year’s World Renewable
Energy Congress, Sushant Kumar
Dey, representing the Ireda, used
the occasion to visit the Italian smallhydro power plant Ponte Pià, near
the city of Trento in the northeast of
Italy.

With the visit of Dr. Michelle Bachelet, President of the Republic ofChile, having a thematical focus on
renewable energies, the Universityof Leipzig hosted a German-Chilean
Energy forum. This represented aparticularly suitable platform forexchanging ideas with Germany’s
suppliers of renewable energy
technologies. Due to the tightschedule, only few from a large
number of industry representatives
could participate, among themDr. Peter Wengefeld of Voith
Siemens Hydro. Chile’s delegation,with Karen Poniachik, Minister
for Energy, Alvaro Rojas, Minister
for Agriculture and Carlo Alvarez,
Director of Chile’s Investment Promotion Corporation, gathered thelatest information on renewable
technologies and discussed opportunities for German firms to develop
projects in Chile, including Voith
Siemens Hydro’s activities in thefield of ocean energy.

Through 2002 to 2003, Ponte Piàhydro power station was refurbishedby Voith Siemens Hydro Italy.
The Voith Siemens Hydro scope of
supply included four new horizontal
Pelton turbines, generators, controls
and automation system.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPower39

INTERVIEW

Our responsibility as an equipment
supplier
Interview with the CEO of Voith Siemens Hydro, Germany.

Dr. Hubert Lienhard

Dr. Hubert Lienhard is also a Memberof the Board of the International
Hydropower Association (IHA) andcurrently holds the Chair of the Boardof Hydro Equipment Association (HEA)

Question: Dr. Lienhard, why do you

think an industrial company in hydropower generation should be concerned with social responsibility?

good, clean and innocent. To begin
this dialogue is a first step in asorely needed new mindset to go
forward.

• Hubert.Lienhard@vs-hydro.com
Dr. Lienhard: In my opinion, we

have clearly experienced over thelast years an increasing number ofcritical themes around hydro powerthat may very well and quickly turninto serious threats if not properly
dealt with: poor project implementation has damaged part of hydro’s
good image as clean and renewablesource for power generation. Thinkof resettlement issues, debates oncompensation of affected people,
change of living and nutrition for
indigenous people. All this has
become much too relevant to beignored, even if true for a relatively
low number of projects. We must
start getting involved in this debate
and show that hydro power is anenergy worth fighting for in thesense of an emissions-free andKyoto-supportive solution to futureenergy supply.

40

If you look at our engagement in
the industry associations (IHA and
HEA), that is one fundamental step.
But continuing this dialogue withstakeholders, especially NGOs,
and bringing them closer to theindustry and these associations
joins forces for all of us.

“Hydro power is an energy
worth fighting for.”Dr. Hubert Lienhard

The other step is, to do this as acompany directly. Since the experience of a World Commission on
Dams (WCD) process and its follow-up discussion in the public area,
up to the development within political frameworks against hydro, we
have to accept that only we can be
the ones to fight for the good imageof hydro power.

Question: So, how does theQuestion: What has Voith Siemens

company view this responsibility?

Hydro done so far?

Dr. Lienhard: First of all, we, theDr. Lienhard: Voith Siemens Hydro

industry, must simply open our eyes
and accept the presence and roleof stakeholders, instead of only
defending hydro power as always

was a founding company in theestablishing in of the Hydro Equipment Association in 2001.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerINTERVIEW

I myself have started to talk about
our problems very clearly and asoften as I can: We have talked toNGOs on common ground; I havepresented to our customers, topartners, to banks, to my own management and staff.
Question: What do your communi-

cation activities embrace above
this?
Dr. Lienhard: HEA has launched a

new PR campaign, highlighting not
only the benefits of hydro poweralone, but emphasizing the need toreconcile the effects in an economical, social and environmental context in the best-possible way. Thisis only possible through intensive
consultation and participation.
Question: Are there any concrete

project acitivities as a company
you are pursuing beyond your corebusiness, then?

These guidelines and this protocol, by the way, have found great
acknowledgement from the political and NGO side during the last
Nairobi Climate Conference.
2. By entering into further dialogue
with NGOs that are willing to talkto us and to share responsibility
for improvement in project realization.
3. By investigating project options
helping to reconcile bad effects
after the implementation of ahydro power plant. For this, however, it is still too early, but we areon our way.

“We are no longer interested
in the large or the small,but the well planned and wellmanaged.”Dr. Klaus Töpfer, during his timeof UNEP chairmanship.

Question: What are your expecta-

tions for the years coming on being
taken into responsibility actions?

Dr. Lienhard: Yes, we are planning

to prove that we want to go beyond
our mere business approach andenter into concrete activities for
improvement in project realization:
1. By absolutely propagating the
IHA Sustainability Guidelines andthe relating Assessment Protocol
to owners and operators.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPower

Dr. Lienhard: Well, I assume, wewill network and exchange much
more intense in much earlier stageof projects than ever before. We will
have to get involved into discussions on stakeholder participationand public consultation as neverbefore. And we have to be readyto do this with a well-informed andtrained sales force that is also able
to understand and exchange thiswith our partners, customers, consultants and others.
Looking or staying away from problems is no solution any longer.
Looking at it, and trying to help
develop solutions on common
ground for all, will at the end reallyprovide sustainable hydro power
projects according to generally
accepted standards.

IHA Sustainability Guidelines
Sustainable development is regarded by
IHA and HEA as a fundamental componentof social responsibility, sound businesspractice and natural resource management.
Sustainable development is that whichmeets the needs of the present withoutcompromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Report of
the World Commission on Environmentand Development, 1987). It requires theintegration of three components – economic
development, environmental caution andsocial justice – as interdependent, mutually
reinforcing pillars.

AuthorBarbara Fischer-Aupperle
Head of Communications,
Heidenheim, Germany• Barbara.Fischer-Aupperle@vs-hydro.com

41EVENTS

Dr. Hubert Lienhard, CEO of Voith Siemens
Hydro, and Jaime Pinkham of ColumbiaRiver Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.

Linda Church Ciocci,
National Hydropower Association andAlessandro Palmieri, World Bank.

Audience discussing during
book introduction.

Voith Siemens Hydro helps promoting bookon ‘The Power of Water’
A new book supported and promoted by Voith and Voith Siemens
Hydro unfolds a diversity of view points on hydro power.

The book ‘The Power of Water’
was introduced to the international
audience in a public event during
HydroVision 2006 conference inPortland, Oregon. A panel, chaired
by Linda Church Ciocci, Executive
Director of the US National Hydropower Association, Dr. Hubert
Lienhard, CEO of Voith Siemens
Hydro, together with Dr. Alessandro
Palmieri of the World Bank, andJaime Pinkham of the US-based
Columbia River Inter-Tribal FishCommission, reflected on thediverse views of this book for thereadership.

42

The book, published by Deutsche
Verlagsanstalt (DVA) in Germany,
contains a wide range of voices onhydro power and its related issues,
from prominent environmentalists,such as Achim Steiner – today’shead of UNEP, Dr. Klaus Töpfer, his
predecessor in UNEP, Kader Asmal,
as the former head of the World
Commission on Dams, World Bank
representative Alessandro Palmieri,
to Richard Taylor from the International Hydropower Association, awelder of turbines in Voith Siemens
Hydro, an Indian Chief in Canada,
and a boat rental owner on a German storage lake.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerEVENTS

Other chapters are devoted to thehydro industry’s history, technicalsolutions in energy from water, thefuture potential of hydro power, andwater management on the Colorado
River.
The book was edited by Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung journalist Georg
Küffner, and can easily be readby picking and choosing chaptersin any order.
During 2006 introduction at theHydroVision, there was no doubt,that such a book is beyond traditional technical or political iterations
on hydro power and clearly showedthat the times of narrow views
within the industry are over.

HydroVision 2006,
Voith Siemens Hydro booth.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPower

Jaime Pinkham brought the tribal
perspective to the round and was
happy to see that “the book helps
drive us towards a common understanding” and that “hydro power
projects in developing countries
could benefit from the experiencein the Pacific Northwest of the US,
where a struggle continues to try
to restore salmon runs”.
Dr. Lienhard once more emphasized
the fact that the industry – by supporting this diverse arrangement ofviews on hydro power – definitely
shows the increasing involvementof corporations beyond their financial goals, and the rising awarenessof the need of common ground forsustainable realization of hydropower plants.

The book is available in English
from HCI Publications at
info@hcipub.com; www.hcipub.com.
The German version can be purchased through Germany’s booksales underISBN 13: 978-3-421-04214-9.

AuthorBarbara Fischer-Aupperle
Head of Communications,
Heidenheim, Germany• Barbara.Fischer-Aupperle@vs-hydro.com

The most prominent reader of the bookso far: Bill Clinton received his copy
for his 60 th birthday from Wayne Rogers
of Voith Siemens Hydro’s developer
Synergics and his little daughter Kellyn.

43

POLITICS

The Greenhouse Gas story:
UNESCO convened workshop
in Paris
The debate associated with Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions
from freshwater reservoirs has met with differing views so far
from national legal bodies, international climate change institutions, NGOs and the hydro power industry.

The debate was not so much
focused on the fact that emissions
occur, but rather on the incremental
proportion, if any, that is related
to human activity and blamed onreservoirs from hydro power generation.

The problem of GHG emissions
from hydro relates only to theunderstanding of methane fluxes
at shallow-plateau type tropic reservoirs. Therefore, all other hydroschemes should be considered tohave a very low GHG footprint.

Besides the IPCC (Intergovernmental Project on Climate Change)
working group with three varying
methodologies, the Executive Boardof the UN Framework on the convention on Climate Change’s Clean
Development Mechanism had
introduced another set of criteria in
January 2006 that threatened to
exclude hydro power schemes withsignificant water storage from thismechanism.

Further research needs to be donein order to have a reference organization, the “Reservoir Emissions
Forum”, which should be in a position to guide and review future initiatives, with UNESCO willing to hostthe effort with support from national
governments.

The UNESCO December 5 - 6 workshop in Paris brought together
government officials, scientists andreservoir managers to review previous and current research and fieldmeasurements, assess common
understanding and identify knowledge gaps, define future researchneeds, and identify roles for future
work.

44

A steering committee will be formed
with up to four representatives foreach of the science, industry andgovernment categories.
IPCC has written to International
Hydropower Association (IHA) toinvite participation as an observerin the IPCC Working Groups I, II
and III, and to its general meetings.
Both IHA and HEA (Hydro Equipment Association) have welcomed
this result from the workshop for a
future, scientifically based approachon this theme.

What are Greenhouse Gases (GHG)?
The emission of GHGs has been stated tohave a direct, man-made influence to world
climate, resulting in global warming andrelating climate effects. Therefore, theglobal reduction of emission of GHGs is thecentral goal of the Kyoto Protocol of 1997
for many nations. The most important
gases, concerning the discussion onemission from reservoirs and flooded lands,
are carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane(CH4). Other gases, as defined in the Kyoto
protocol, are nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocabons(PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6).

AuthorBarbara Fischer-Aupperle
Secretary General of Hydro
Equipment Association,
Heidenheim, Germany• info@thehea.org

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerASSOCIATIONSHydro Equipment Association
launches PR campaign
In its effort to support public recognition of hydro power andmaintain the dialogue among stakeholder groups, the Hydro
Equipment Association (HEA) has launched a new ad campaign
in fall 2006. The advertising concept picks up on the potential
and value of hydro power for people, economies and the global
environment.

With the help of three themes, thecampaign focuses on the areas ofwork, education and food. Its aim
is to highlight the advantages ofthis renewable energy source,which supplies one fifth of thepower generated worldwide, andto address potential reservations
the public may have. At the heartof each theme are people, pictured
in their everyday environment, who
serve as prime examples of thebenefits that hydro power brings.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerFounded in 2001, HEA is a groupof manufacturers of hydro equipment. In the light of existing controversy about dams, its main objective is to promote the dialogue
between different stakeholders, tohighlight the advantage of hydropower for low-emission energy
generation and, with the help ofindustrial policies, to secure thesocially and environmentally acceptable realization of hydro power
projects. Its three major members
are Voith Siemens Hydro, Alstom
Power Hydro and Andritz VA TechHydro.

AuthorBarbara Fischer-Aupperle
Secretary General of Hydro
Equipment Association,
Heidenheim, Germany• info@thehea.org

45

OCEAN ENERGIESJoint venture for tidal current powerin South Korea
Voith Siemens Hydro has signed a memorandum of understanding for the foundation of a joint venture with Renetec, a Korean
corporation that drives project development in the renewables
energy sector since 2001.

The joint venture pursues the development and testing of machines forenergy generation from large tidal
power plants. Voith Siemens Hydro
will hold 51 %.
Partners for a proposed tidal current
power plant are Korea Hydro &Nuclear Power Company, Koreabased steel manufacturer Posco,
and Jeonnan Provincial Government and Renetec, all shareholders
to Korea Current Power – the future
operator. Joint venture partner
Renetec, since its foundation, has
had a close relationship with theInstitute of Fluid Mechanics andHydraulic Machinery of the University of Stuttgart (IHS) in Germany.

46

This cooperation has seen thedevelopment of a project to be
implemented in Korea’s Wando
province.
The technology for this type of tidal
current power station is essentiallydifferent from the traditional
approach of tidal power stations:instead of using a dam to retain thesea water and extract its potential
energy with bulb-like turbines, freeflow turbines extract the kinetic
energy of the passing sea water.
Prototypes of machines will havea rated power between 600 kW,
and 1 MW. Final implementation of
the tidal energy park in Korea will
see an overall installed capacity of
600 MW.

Dr. Hubert Lienhard, CEO of Voith
Siemens Hydro in Heidenheim,
Germany, clearly views this project
to be a another milestone in thecompany’s way towards energy
generation through marine technologies. “With this entry into oceanenergies, we are expanding our
traditional hydro business beyond
our core and will contribute new
and innovative solutions in wave
and tidal energy generation,” hesaid during the signing.
AuthorDr. Jochen Weilepp
Head of Ocean Energies,
Heidenheim, Germany• Jochen.Weilepp@vs-hydro.com

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerEVENTS

Dr. Siegbert Etter, Corporate Technology
Officer and his presenters during the Voith
Siemens Hydro seminar.

Seminar on silt erosionin New Delhi
India has a huge unharnessed hydro potential of 115,000 MW.
A major portion of this potential is in the northern and northeastern Himalayan regions of the country. The high silt content
in the waters of the Himalayan Rivers and the resulting fast
wear of turbine parts has been a matter of great concern inrecent years.

To address this very important
subject, Voith Siemens Hydro had
organized a one-day seminar in
New Delhi on October 10, 2006.
Over 120 delegates from all partsof the country, representing leading
owners and operators, governmental institutions, the private sector,
as well as a large number of leading
consultants, participated in a highlyinteractive seminar with Voith
Siemens Hydro’s panel of speakers.
The presentations were aimed atcreating a deeper understanding
among Indian participants on thefactors causing erosion and for joint
approaches in finding tailor-madesolutions to mitigate the associatedproblems.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerThe aspect of abrasive wear, wasa topic addressed again by Voith
Siemens Hydro experts during theirpresentations in the Power India
Conference, held later in Mumbai,
from October 12 - 14. In this conference, a case study on the Three
Gorges hydro power project wasalso presented.

AuthorAmresh Dhawan
Managing Director,
New Dehli, India• Amresh.Dhawan@vs-hydro.com

47

EVENTSThe Voith Siemens Hydro team in Beijing.

Pan Jiazheng (second from right),
Academician of Chinese Academyof Science and Chinese Academyof Engineering, visited Voith Siemens
Hydro during the event in Beijing.

Vienna “Heurigen” atmosphere
during 14 th university-held seminar.

International hydro events in Beijing and Vienna
The 1st International Conference on Hydropower Technology &Key Equipment was held in Beijing from October 27 - 30, 2006,
sponsored by China Three Gorges Project Corporation and the
China Society for Hydropower Engineering. Also, from November
22 - 24, 2006 the International Seminar on Hydropower Plantsof the Vienna Technical University took place for the 14 th time,in Laxenburg, Austria.

About 500 domestic and international experts, students and engineers of the hydro power industry
as well as high-level managementfrom large hydro power plants andcorporations were attracted by the
Chinese conference. Along withnational and foreign equipment
manufacturers, Voith Siemens
Hydro Shanghai presented itself
with a booth and papers on large
hydraulic machinery, based on its
outstanding experience with thehydraulic design developed for theThree Gorges units.
The rapid hydro power development
in China has entered a new periodthat Voith Siemens Hydro hopes toparticipate in considerably.

48

The Vienna event under the title“Worldwide use of Hydropower inthe future” was attended by morethan 200 participants, primarily fromthe European Union.
Organized by the Institute for
Waterpower and Pumps and theInstitute for Testing and Research inMaterials Technology of the Vienna
Technical University, this event
offered the opportunity to Voith
Siemens Hydro to present on technical developments and highlights
of projects, such as automatedFinite Element Analyses electricalmachine design, integrated solution
for monitoring and diagnosis, newjoint control at Bratsk, modernization of Zakucac, numerical simulation and design of spherical valves
for pumped storage, and new challenges for modern pumped storage
units.

Voith Siemens Hydro, above this,presented itself with a booth andsponsoring of the welcome reception in a typical Viennese “Heurigen”
location.

Authors
Clare Chen
Communications Coordinator,
Shanghai, China• Clare.Chen@vs-hydro.com
Claudia Wildthan
Communications Coordinator,
St. Pölten, Austria• Claudia.Wildthan@vs-hydro.com

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerEVENTS

Conferences, seminars
and symposia
Date

Event /further information

March 15 - 18, 2007

US National Hydropower Association (NHA) Annual Conference

Washington, D.C., USA
US National Hydropower Associationwww.hydro.org

May, 27 - 31, 2007

World Congress on Advancing Sustainable Hydropower
and International Training Course in Hydropower Sustainability
Assessment

Antalya, Turkey
International Hydropower Associationwww.hydropower.org

July 23 - 26, 2007

Waterpower XV

Tennessee, USA
HCI Publications
www.hcipub.com

October 15 - 17, 2007

Hydro 2007

Granada, Spain
Network Events and International Journal on Hydropower and Dams
www.hydropower-dams.com

October 22 - 25, 2007

CIGRE Joint Colloquium on Insulation systems for electricalmachines, and SC A1/SC D1 Meetings

Kyenongju, South Korea
CIGRE Study Committee D1 and A1; Korea National Committeee of CIGRE,KIEE and C Society;http://www.cigre-a1.org/Site/Events/pa_ce.asp

November 11 - 15, 2007

20th World Energy Council Congress

Rome, Italy
World Energy Council
www.rome2007.it

February 2007 I 15 I HyPower49

ESSAY

Oskar von Miller
A forceful, self-taught,
altruistic engineer

The statue of “Bavaria” in Munich.

50

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerESSAY

Oskar von Miller.
Born 1855, died 1934 in Munich.

Lightning model in the high-voltage
apparatus.

The Deutsche (German) Museumin Munich.

The life of one of Germany’s leading electricalengineers.
Oskar von Miller was one of themost significant personalities in
the German electrical engineering
scene in the final decade of the 19 th
and the first third of the 20 th centuries. As a self-employed engineer
and a talented organizer and fundraiser, he was able to transform a
multitude of small electricity supply
networks, together with his contemporaries, into just a few larger ones.
He often “pushed the envelope” inhis thinking but avoided going too
far. He understood his fellow men
extremely well, and his suggestions
were always realistic. Furthermore,
he was altruistic in that his goal wasthe common good.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerHe was unpopular in the electricalengineering trade, his chosen areaof business, because he forced theprices down so that everyone could
afford electricity.
His father, Ferdinand Miller (the“von” was added to the family namewhen he was elevated to the aristocracy), ran a foundry in Munich.
The statue of “Bavaria” in that city
is his work. Oskar Franz Xaver was
the youngest of fourteen children.
He exhibited very little enthusiasm
for school or as a student of construction engineering. The engineer’s pragmatic approach suited
him but failed to capture his interest.
His talent was in issuing orders
rather than obeying them.

51

ESSAY

When the International ElectricalEngineering Exhibition was heldin Paris in 1881, Miller, with somedifficulty, succeeded in being seconded to it as Bavarian state commissioner. His knowledge of electrical engineering was minimal, but hesoon taught himself the necessary
rudiments. For the rest of his life,
Miller built on what had begun in
Paris in 1881. His gift was for planning and organization.
In 1882 he played an important partin Munich’s “Electricity Exhibition”.
In 1891 he was director of theElectrical Engineering Exhibitionin Frankfurt. As a highlight of thisevent, he organized the transmission of three-phase current alonga 175-kilometre long, 20,000-Voltline from Lauffen am Neckar, toFrankfurt.

Lake Walchensee in Bavaria, Germany.

52

This successful experiment led
to large areas of Germany being
supplied with electricity, and to a
gradual change from small directcurrent power stations within cities
to more remotely situated alternate
current power stations. Miller wasaware of the superiority of the newgenerating machinery, and rose to
be one of the country’s leading
electrical engineers.
From 1883 to 1889 he was Directorof the German Edison Company(later AEG) in Berlin. After this, heworked as a freelance engineer in
Munich for the rest of his life. For
these 45 years, he was his own lordand master, and, in this same period, electrical engineering grew into
what we are familiar with today: themany small supply networks were
replaced with just a few large ones.
Miller played a significant role in thisdevelopment.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerESSAY

From 1918 to 1924 he was project
manager for the Walchensee power
station, at that time the largest
hydroelectric power plant in theworld. Four years later he began todraft out a general electricity supply
plan for the whole of Germany.
His books on urban power supply
became standard works of reference.
According to his biographer there
was also another side to Oskar
von Miller’s character: he was a“fearsome despot”, a workaholic,a skinflint and a Bavarian who
sported a beard worthy of the legendary giant Rübezahl. Worse still:
von Miller was so domineering acharacter that he even corrected
his wife’s diary entries. His children
walked to school, which took them
45 minutes, because he was toomean to pay for the tram tickets.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerThis experiment shows the effectof AC voltage.

Test arrangement for AC voltage.

He regularly forbade his employees
to take the holidays to which they
were entitled, and when he wascommissioned to draw up surveys,
he often used them as a meansof landing lucrative orders later.
What is most fascinating about
Oskar von Miller is that although
we would hardly like to use him
as a role model, he nonethelessearns respect for his visionary andentrepreneurial attitude.

This project enabled him to exercise
all his talents. He planned, organized, persuaded and begged until
he had everything he wanted.

“I want people to pour into
the museum as they would
visit the beer tents at the
Oktoberfest.”

He performed the entire task in avolunteer capacity, though it also
represented good publicity for his
consulting engineers’ office.
The museum was founded in 1903,
but after the upheavals caused by
the First World War, it was not until
1925 that the permanent buildings
were opened on an island in the
Islar River. Oskar von Miller diedof a heart attack on April 9, 1934.

Oskar von Miller

Oskar von Miller’s greatest work
was the German Museum in
Munich. His aim was for talks to
be given there and for visitors’
curiosity to be aroused by interacting with hands-on experiments,
rather than just observing theexhibits.

The pictures in page 51 are kindly
supported by the German Museum.

53

NEWS FROM THE VOITH GROUP

Voith Paper
A new record for Voith Paper wasachieved with the new production
line PM 12 at Huatai Paper Company Limited in Shangdong, China,that was successfully started only
five months after erection of the
new paper machine had begun.
PM 12 will produce high-grade
newsprint for four-color offset printing. The new paper machine is
the “sister” machine to PM 11 also
supplied by Voith Paper in 2004.
With a design speed of 2,000
meters per minute, a wire width of
10.2 meters and an enormously
high production capacity of 1,210
tons per 24 hours by 49 grams per
square meter, the PM 12 will join
PM 11 as one of world’s largest andfastest newsprint production lines.
Voith Paper Automation’s total
process know-how was completely
incorporated into the engineeringof the instrumentation and functional design of the recycled fiber preparation plant, the additives preparation section and also the machinerelated control equipment. This wasa significant reason for the fast
start-up of the PM 12.

54

The PM 12 is the fourth paper
machine in this series supplied byVoith Paper to Huatai Paper. It will
ensure Huatai to maintain its position as the number one producer ofnewsprint in China, both in terms of
quality and quantity. Production ofhigh level newsprint at Shandong
Huatai Paper will reach an amazing
1.2 million tons by the end of 2006,
which will equate to almost 50 % of
the entire newsprint production in
China – all produced on Voith Papermachines. The trust placed in Voith
Paper by Huatai Paper reflects thelong history and close cooperation
between the two companies.
Voith Paper is a division of Voithand one of the leading partners to
the paper industry. Through steadyinnovations, Voith Paper optimizes
the paper production process.
More than one third of worldwide
paper production is produced on
Voith Paper machines.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerNEWS FROM THE VOITH GROUP

Jörg Fiedler, Executive Vice President of IAP Technology GmbH, and Peter Edelmann,
CEO of Voith Turbo and Member of the Board of Management of Voith AG.

Voith Industrial
Services

Voith Turbo

Voith Railservices B.V., a Voith
Industrial Services company, has
opened a new workshop in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, built for the
purpose of performing repairs on
43 Stadler trains of Arriva Openbaar
Vervoer NV. Construction took place
February to August 2006.

During this year’s IAA Commercial
Vehicle Show, the Boards ofVoith Turbo and IAP Technology
announced the integration of IAP
Technology into the newly established Voith Turbo Aufladungssysteme, based in Gommern, SaxonyAnhalt, Germany.

Two sets of tracks in the workshop
enable maintenance work to be
carried out on two trains simultaneously. If necessary, a third railcar
can be set up on an additional track
next to the building. Arriva awarded
the contract for repairs for a periodof 15 years. In the future, Voith
Industrial Services will be responsible for maintenance and analysisof improvement potentials in the
trains and the maintenance plans.
To do this, Voith Industrial Services
works closely with railcar manufacturers and railroad transportationcompanies in the Netherlands.
Voith Industrial Services is a leading provider of technical services
for key industries with over 150
sites worldwide, more than 15,000
employees, and sales of around€ 700 million in the past fiscal year.

With this step, Voith Turbo and IAP
Technology are pooling their activities in the field of turbochargers for
combustion engines.

February 2007 I 15 I HyPowerThe development period is expected
to provide positive results of preseries tests and shall supply thecommercial vehicle industry withseries-produced exhaust gas turbochargers from 2008 on.
Voith Turbo, the specialist for hydrodynamic drives, couplings andbraking systems for road, rail andindustrial applications, as well as forship propulsion systems, is a Group
Division of Voith.

Voith Turbo Aufladungssysteme willthus concentrate and intensify its
activities relating to turbocharger
technologies for commercial vehicle
combustion engines. The existing
location in Gommern will be used
for series’ development, as well as
series’ production of exhaust gas
turbochargers, which will start in2008. Presently, the newly founded
company is operating its own
research and development center,
staffed with a team of over 25
design engineers, working on solutions for growing demand withregard to engine output, emission
regulations, fuel consumption andreliability.

55

Imprint
Published by:Voith Siemens Hydro
Power Generation GmbH & Co. KG
A Voith and Siemens Company

Editor:Barbara Fischer-Aupperle
Voith Siemens Hydro
Power Generation GmbH & Co. KG
Alexanderstr. 1189522 Heidenheim, Germany
Fon +49 7321 37-68 48
Fax +49 7321 37-78 28
barbara.fischer-aupperle@vs-hydro.com
www.voithsiemens.com
In cooperation with:
Manfred Schindler
Werbeagentur OHG, Aalen, Germany
Text + Konzept AG, Essen, Germany

10000

Copyright:
No part of this publication may be copied,
reproduced or otherwise disseminatednor may any of the content in it be usedin part or in whole in other works in any
form whatsoever, without express written
permission of the editor.

www.msw.de

Print:
Wahl Druck GmbH, Aalen, Germany