Voith Rides Wave of Growth in Hydropower Market, with Nearly $13 Billion in Projects

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Voith GmbH and Company (Heidenheim, Germany), a global provider of mechanical engineering services, is involved in nearly $13 billion worth of active projects, according to Industrial Info's project database. The projects are spread across five continents and include more than $2 billion worth that are nearing or under construction in the U.S. and Canada, mainly concentrated in the hydropower market.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Voith's active North American projects, by U.S. and Canadian state or province.

The bulk of Voith's active projects at hydropower facilities, such as pumped-storage plants and dams, involve modernizations, upgrades and refurbishments to existing units, including some that have been around for decades. The New York Power Authority (White Plains, New York) is employing Voith for engineering and construction services on the $230 million refurbishment and modernization of six turbine generators at its pump-power station in Lewiston, New York. The project will improve efficiency and extend service life on units 7 through 12, which have a total output of 240 megawatts (MW). For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

The U.S. Midwest is home to two of the larger projects to feature Voith: Missouri River Energy Services' (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) $224 million powerhouse addition at the Red Rock Lake & Dam Hydropower facility in Knoxville, Iowa, which would add 36.4 MW to the grid, and Duke Energy Corporation's (NYSE:DUK) (Charlotte, North Carolina) $152 million in turbine uprates at the Markland Hydro Station in Florence, Indiana, which would add 9 MW to the currently 22-MW facility. For more information, see Industrial Info's reports on the Red Rock Lake and Markland projects.

Two of the busiest states for Voith's hydro business are in different parts of the country. In Washington state, Grant County Public Utility District is employing Voith for $136 million in turbine replacements and $125 million in governor upgrades at the Priest Rapids Hydro Power Station in Mattawa, which involve replacing turbines and governor controls on units 1 through 10. The projects kicked off in early 2016 and are set to wrap up in mid-2023. Voith also is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on its $47.7 million refurbishment of the Ice Harbor Hydro Power Station in Burbank, Washington, covering units 1 through 3 at the facility. For more information, see Industrial Info's reports on the turbine replacements and governor upgrades in Mattawa, and refurbishment in Burbank.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Washington had the largest share of hydropower generation in 2017, representing 72% of the state's total electricity generation. In Tennessee, Voith is at work on a pair of projects for the Tennessee Valley Authority (NYSE:TVE) (Knoxville, Tennessee): $60 million in modernizations at the Nickajack Hydro Station in Jasper, which would improve the turbines in units 3 and 4 and add 6 MW to the facility's output, and $40 million in modernizations at the hydro station in Pickwick Dam, which would improve the turbines in units 2 and 3 through the addition of Westinghouse generators. Both projects are set to wrap up in the spring of 2021.

As in Washington, Voith is partnering with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the $47.2 million modernization of three units at Center Hill Hydro Power Station in Lancaster, Tennessee, which would replace three turbines dating back to the early 1950s, boosting output from 135 to 150 MW. For more information, see Industrial Info's reports on the Nickajack, Pickwick Dam and Center Hill projects.

Voith's paper-products subsidiary, Voith Paper Incorporated, is involved in more than $2.5 billion worth of active projects, including a pair in the U.S. Midwest that are under construction: Green Bay Packaging Incorporated's $475 million addition to its recycled linerboard mill in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Pratt Industries Incorporated's (Conyers, Georgia) $275 million recycled fibre containerboard mill in Wapakoneta, Ohio.

The Green Bay expansion is expected to double production to 500,000 metric tons per year of corrugated medium and linerboard, replacing coal-fired boilers with those fueled by natural gas, while the Wapakoneta project will produce 360,000 metric tons per year of the same product. The Wapakoneta project is expected to wrap up next summer, while the Green Bay expansion currently is expected to be finished in early 2021. For more information, see Industrial Info's reports on the Green Bay and Wapakoneta projects.

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