U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Plans $100 Million in Hydroelectric Plant Activity through Second-Quarter 2016

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) Mobile District (Mobile, Alabama) is implementing several capital projects, totaling about $100 million, to modernize, upgrade and rehabilitate equipment at several hydroelectric power plants it operates and maintains. Starting in the fourth quarter of 2012 through the second quarter of 2016, the USACE will replace and upgrade vintage hydro turbines, rewind generators, upgrade transformers and station controls, as well as rehabilitate switchyard components, to improve plant reliability and extend the facility's service life.

The hydroelectric power plants, all located in Georgia, were constructed between 1949 and 1975, and the equipment is well past its designed service life.

The projects will consist of the replacement of old Francis hydro turbines with more efficient, modern and fish-friendly designs. To upgrade the decades-old electro-mechanical control systems, the old switchyard transformers will be replaced, as well as the turbine runners, turbine and generator governors, programmable logic controls, and digital control systems. The switchyard distribution equipment is to be rehabilitated.

In addition, an average of seven 480-volt motor control centers and switchgear per facility will be replaced, plus associated electrical controls and cables, which tie the plant equipment to the electrical bus, operator controls and switchyard metering instrumentation, disconnects, breakers and safety systems.

The USACE is the largest owner/operator of hydroelectric power plants in the United States and one of the largest in the world. The 75 power plants and 353 electric generating units owned by the USACE have a total installed capacity of 20,720 megawatts, which is nearly a quarter of the nation's hydro-power output. The clean, economic and renewable energy source contributes to the nation's energy security.

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