Turbine upgrade planned for Poland's second largest pumped hydro plant
Pamela Largue
Posted on: 28 April 2023
PGE Odnawialna S.A. has selected GE Renewable Energy to replace the four 125MW pumped turbines and generators of the Porabka Zar pumped hydro storage plant in Poland.
Polish energy company PGE Odnawialna S.A. has selected GE Renewable Energy to replace the four 125MW pumped turbines and generators of the Porabka Zar pumped hydro storage plant in Poland.
Porabka Zar pumped storage power plant in Poland has an installed capacity of 540MW.
This contract aims at extending the lifetime of the hydropower plant for several decades by replacing the over 40-year-old turbines with new, high-efficiency pumped turbines and motor generators.
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GE Hydro Solutions will be responsible for the design, manufacturing and supply of the new equipment, as well as the excitation and governing systems. They will also supervise the erection and commissioning of the four new units.
The existing stay rings, as well as the existing stay vanes will be replaced by new ones specially designed for Porabka Zar.
Pascal Radue, president and CEO of GE’s Hydro Solutions, said, “This rehabilitation project is the first large-scale rehabilitation project of its kind in Poland in 40 years.
"This new equipment will help increase the flexibility and reliability of the plant and consequently stabilize the grid in the country.”
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The commercial operation of the four units is expected beginning of 2028.
Porabka Zar is the second-largest hydropower plant in Poland. The pumped storage power plant uses the Międzybrodzkie Lake as the downstream reservoir, which is dammed in Międzybrodzie Bialskie. The upstream reservoir (a completely artificial lake) was constructed at the summit of the Żar Mountain.
According to the paper, The hydropower sector in Poland: Historical development and current status, Poland currently has 771 run-of-river hydropower plants of which 761 are small hydropower plants. The total power of run-of-river hydropower plants is 937MW.
The largest installed capacity is in the pumped storage hydropower plants, with a total installed capacity of 1433MW.
Hydropower plays an important role in stabilising the power generation system in Poland while spurring energy transition, allowing for more intermittent renewables to be added to the grid.
