The Vacha II hydro-electric power station is part of what the customer calls “the Dospat – Vacha Cascade”, a complex multitiered chain of power stations, the purpose of which is to extract a maximum of power from the natural resource the river system is while paying due attention to nature preservation.
Originally, the Vacha II station was commissioned in 1973 with two vertical Francis-turbine/generator sets, each with a generating capacity of 3.5 MW. The station is fed from the Krichim Dam through a pipeline it shares with another station in the cascade.
The project presented plenty of engineering challenges that stemmed from the overall mission: to integrate Vacha II smoothly into the cascade while maximizing yield, and minimizing the need for human attention. (One aspect of the latter requirement was that the station had to be operable remotely.)
The project included design, manufacture, delivery, installation, and commissioning of new excitation, medium-voltage switchgear, and control equipment for two hydroelectric power generators
Eight months later, ABB’s project team had the customer’s word that they had succeeded admirably.