Hidroituango: first turbine up and running by July 26, says Duque - Other Cities - Colombia

President Iván Duque, together with the Minister of Mines and Energy Diego Mesa and the Comptroller General Carlos Felipe Córdoba, They visited this Saturday, March 5, the main works of the Hidroituango hydroelectric plant.

The progress of the work exceeds 87.32%, so there is a goal, for the second half of 2022, to start generating energy with the first unit, EPM previously stated.

According to what they indicate, some 8,353 people from more than 80 contractor companies work on the site, in addition to EPM employees, who are distributed in the different work fronts.

It is for this reason that the president took the opportunity to emphasize the importance of begin operations of that first turbine on July 26, according to the schedule provided by the company.

“Today the project has the supervision and monitoring of the entire government team and I hope that the delivery date of the first turbine will be met, because that is not an arbitrary date or taken from any hat, it is a date in accordance with the new schedulesDuke assured.

Photo:

Javier Grandson. TIME

On the subject, the governor of Antioquia, Aníbal Gaviria, indicated that the most important thing was to “comply with high standards.”

“That it start working as soon as possible, that it not be put in the wheel in its construction so that it starts working but all that on the understanding of the highest engineering standards”, affirmed Gaviria, according to ‘Blu Radio’.

For his part, Duque was optimistic about the progress of the construction: “With this, this great project for the energy security of our country could begin, and this project that is emblematic and, clearly, the largest energy generation project that Colombia has had, and the most sophisticated and important “added the president in his speech.

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Hidroituango: the 'heart' of the first turbine is already on site - Medellín - Colombia

In the midst of the controversy that the entry into operation of the first generation unit of Hidroituango whether or not next July 26on the construction site they work against the clock to meet the schedule.

There are more than 80 contractor companies and 8,353 collaborators distributed in different work fronts who seek to have the mega-work completed within the established times and with the safety and quality conditions required for this type of work.

In this order of ideas, EPM reported the arrival at the powerhouse of the runner of the first turbine, called its ‘heart’. It is an element weighing 71 tons (equivalent to 11 elephants), with a diameter of 5.1 meters and a height of 2.1 meters.

Its function, explained the company, is that of a small rotating ‘motor’ “in which the exchange of hydraulic energy (energy of water or kinetic or potential) to mechanical or rotational energy is carried out. In other words, the energy of the water is converted into mechanical energy, since when there is contact between the water and the impeller, it rotates at a synchronous speed of 180 revolutions per minute”.

Its assembly, which will last between two and four weeks, is part of the turbine-generator set, since the runner is connected by means of a shaft to the generator rotor and around it is the stator.

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The Hidroituango runners were manufactured by GE Renewable Energy in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

These two elements, rotor and stator, are also found in the powerhouse, EPM clarified.

“Starting the assembly of the first runner in Hidroituango is a technical milestone, because it marks the continuity of the assembly of the main mechanical components of the generation unit. Much of the equipment is already embedded in the concrete of the structure”, added the company.

Regarding the quality of this element, it was announced that they are made up of 15 blades, made of martensitic stainless steel, which according to EPM belongs to the series of highly alloyed steels with chrome “and is characterized by an excellent combination of mechanical properties and resistance to corrosion and cavitation”.

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Jorge Andrés Carrillo Cardoso, general manager of EPM, added that “Hidroituango already reached 87.32% construction progress at the end of last February, thanks to the considerable progress we have made in civil works and the assembly of electromechanical equipment in the house. of machines”.

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Hidroituango: They doubt that the first turbine will start generating on July 26 - Medellín - Colombia

A new controversy surrounds Hidroituango, the mega-project that exceeded 87% progress and that promises to generate 17% of the country’s energy.

This time it has to do with the schedule for the commissioning of the first of the eight 300 MW (Megawatt) generation turbines.

While EPM reported months ago that July 26 is the date on which the first turbine will start operatinga letter dated February 21 was released from the construction consortium CCC Ituango, indicating that the schedules do not conform to the date announced by EPM.

“According to the programming that we know, the critical route for the entry into operation of the first unit is marked by the shielding of the pipes and upper elbows, as well as the concrete around them, and whose completion is expected andl start of tests with water for the month of October 2022. In this way, we highlight that the activities that the consortium has been developing are focused on achieving that goal”, says the letter from the consortium.

Finally, in the document, EPM is requested to disclose the strategies proposed to reach generation by the end of July so that CCC Ituango evaluates the action plans to be implemented to contribute to achieving that goal.

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EPM responds

Also through a statement, EPM confirmed that July 26 is the date on which Hidroituango will start generating power with the first turbine.

“Thanks to the technical progress that has been made in accordance with the technical work schedules carried out by more than 80 contracting companies that are developing it (not only CCC Ituango), insists that July 26, 2022 will be the date for the entry into operation of the first unit power generator”, expressed EPM.

However, William Giraldo Jiménez, Vice President of Power Generation Projects at EPM, has stated on several occasions that the schedules for a project the size of Hidroituango have a level of uncertainty.

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The CCC Ituango Consortium is not the only firm doing powerhouse work: there are more than 80 contracting companies

“Within the critical path of the Ituango generating units is the installation of the shielding of the vertical wells, which has not advanced at the required speed in the lower elbows. However, it is expected that, in the installation of the metal shielding of the straight part of these wells, a reduction in time will be achieved. This will be evaluated in these following months, since the installation is just beginning in that area.Giraldo explained.

Once said evaluation is made, the yields obtained will be determined, both in the installation of the pipes by the ATB company, and of the concrete by the construction Consortium.

“On the other hand, the installation of the electromechanical equipment and the commissioning tests do not depend at all on the work of the construction Consortium and begin months after the last concrete has been placed in the generating units,” said the official. Vice President of Power Generation Projects at EPM.

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Hidroituango: what is missing for the first turbine to start operating - Medellín - Colombia

One of the three pending challenges that the Ituango hydroelectric project has for the first power generation unit to come into operation on July 26 of this year had a new advance recently, after the visit of the National Environmental Licensing Authority (ANLA).

The technical team of the National Authority for Environmental Licenses, from February 7 to 11, made the control and follow-up visit to this project and validated that EPM is taking the pertinent actions to overcome the contingency that occurred in 2018.

The ANLA visited the works in general, the powerhouse, the left and right margins of the landfill, the reservoir, the monitoring center and other sites of interest, in order to carry out the analysis and verification of the information presented in the report. the Chilean company Pöyry.

Although the environmental authority did not say more about the visit, it did announce that its technical team will continue with the analysis of the document and recalled that the ANLA makes pronouncements through administrative acts.

This is considered progress in one of the challenges of the project, which is to recover the environmental license with the Pöyry report, which was requested in 2018 by the ANLA as an expert opinion on the stability conditions of Hidroituango.

The report was delivered at the end of December 2021 and it depends on it that the environmental authority lift Resolution 820 so that the project can be continue with the works other than those exclusive to the contingency.

Hidroituango power cables. Each one has a diameter of 13.3 centimeters and can reach 600 meters.

Due to the pandemic, the visits of the international experts could not be carried out, so the report had a delay of approximately a year and a half to be delivered.

Jorge Andrés Carrillo -general manager of EPM- indicated in January that it will be the Anla, within the framework of its powers, that must inform, communicate or require everything related to said report on the current stability of the project and the operation of the future generation center.

“Due to the pandemic, the visits of the international experts could not be carried out, so the report had a delay of approximately a year and a half to be delivered. This is an opinion and not a root cause study of what happened in the contingencyCarrillo clarified.

The manager clarified that the start-up of Hidroituango depends on the recovery of said environmental license.

Panoramic view of Hidroituango.

Precisely, this report warns about the risk of the landfill, which is still in operation and is a work that it is not made to be in constant operation.

In this regard, EPM indicated that this is their main concern and made it clear that the only option to evacuate the water, other than the landfill, is through the generation units, that is, for Hidroituango to start operating.

The other two earrings

The first major challenge is the auxiliary diversion gallery, which was plugged in 2018 and caused the current contingency.

William Giraldo, Vice President of Power Generation Projects at EPM, explained that in 2019, as a result of this contingency, the two gates installed in this gallery, weighing 300 tons each, were closed to prevent the passage of water.

Hidroituango power house.

With the pumping of the water that was in this area, it was possible to enter sufficient personnel and machinery to carry out the proper cleaning and removal of debris and mud.

In the last days of January “it was possible to enter the auxiliary diversion gallery (GAD), a very positive fact for the recovery of the project and for the tranquility of the communities located downstream. With the pumping of the water that was in this It was possible to enter the area with sufficient personnel and machinery to carry out the proper cleaning and removal of debris and mud,” Giraldo said.

The other challenge to start operating is that the powerhouse, the ‘heart of Hidroituango’, which was flooded for 271 days, is adequate.

Currently, work is underway to put the first two generation units into service, in July and October of this year.

“The civil works of the first generation unit have already been completed and work has begun on the installation of electromechanical equipment and the control and installation of all auxiliary services. In the generation 2 unit, the emptying of the remaining concrete is carried out. It is estimated that in a month it would be reaching level 217, the same level where unit 1 is located and where the work is leveled out so that it begins to operate in October,” Giraldo said.

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