Vattenfall AB Moves Forward with Upgrade of Akkats Hydroelectric Power Station in Sweden

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Swedish state-owned utilities company Vattenfall AB (Stockholm, Sweden) has made advances on the upgrade of the 150-megawatt (MW) Akkats Hydropower Station located on the Lulle River near the town of Jokkmokk in Northern Sweden.

The project, which has an estimated total investment value of $112 million, consists of expanding the existing underground cavern and replacing the existing 150-MW Kaplan hydraulic turbine with two 75-MW Kaplan units. In July 2008, Vattenfall AB awarded a $45 million engineering, procurement and construction contract to VG Power AB (Vasteras, Sweden). Vattenfall later awarded the design and construction of the turbines to Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation, a joint venture of Voith AG (Heidenheim, Germany) and Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany).

Cavern-expansion works began in August 2008, and rock-blasting will continue through June 2009, when the structural erection of the first 75-MW unit is expected to begin. Once this unit is operational, the second unit will be assembled on the pit of the existing turbine, removal of which is planned for October 2011. The second unit is expected to be operational by the end of 2014.

With 32,000 employees and an overall installed electricity and heat capacity of about 35,000 MW, Vattenfall AB is Europe's fifth-largest electricity generator and the first for heat production. The company also conducts energy trading and lignite coal mining. In addition to the Nordic Countries, where it has a total installed capacity of 18,966 MW, Vattenfall has operations in Germany (15,256 MW) and Poland (1,008 MW). Hydroelectric facilities represent the 45% of Vattenfall's total installed capacity

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