Revamping an old hydro in the era of climate change

Located in dry Southern Spain, this hydropower scheme was built in the 1960s and features a 650 kW Francis turbine. Even if the design capacity was adequate to the amount of water flow available at the time, the effects of climate change have caused a drastic reduction in water availability. As a result of this, the turbine has only been operated sporadically over the last decade since on most days there wasn’t a sufficient water flow to start the unit.

View of the Easy Hydro turbine (left) being lowered by crane into the turbine hall
The installed turbine and relative valves

After diagnosing the situation and assessing the historical flow records, the Easy Hydro team recommended adding a low-cost Pump As Turbine (PAT) in parallel to the existing 650 kW unit. The new equipment was recently installed and will soon be commissioned, thus providing a stable 90-100 kW power generation and utilizing the water that otherwise bypasses the main turbine.

A New 50 kW hydro turbine for a Spanish water utility

A water utility in Northern Spain is set to reduce its electricity bill thanks to an Easy Hydro energy recovery solution.  A 50 kW turbine now sits at the inlet of a treatment plant, supplied by a gravity-fed water source.

For this project, Easy Hydro provided the design expertise and the equipment (turbine, valves, electrical and control panels) required to complete the project.

50 kW Easy Hydro turbine

#easyhydro #watersector #hydropower #innovation #energyrecovery #savings #energyefficiency

Easy Hydro is delighted to announce the successful commissioning of two turbines in an active underground mine

The two turbines are installed in parallel and are located 50 m below the ground level on the discharge line from the mine water treatment plant. After passing through the turbines, the water is then released into a nearby watercourse.

The energy recovery system was designed and installed as an integral part of the water management infrastructure of the mine, with the aim of minimizing the environmental impact of the mineral extraction operations. Since last November, Easy Hydro’s innovative low-cost hydro solution is helping our customer to self-generate over 20% of the energy needed to run its water treatment plant!

#easyhydro #mining #pumpsasturbines #innovation #energyefficiency #lowcost #selfgenerate #energyrecovery