The contract has an estimated total project volume of NOK320m ($38.8m).
As per the contract, Voith will upgrade and modernise the control systems and the electrical auxiliary systems at the plants.
Old relay control systems will be upgraded to Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)-based ones
Apart from the control systems for power units, the company will also supply and install protection and control systems for complex medium and extra high-voltage systems.
The Tonstad power plant is the largest hydropower plant in Norway with an average annual production of about 3800GWh.
The Solhom power plant, on the other hand has an annual production of 695GWh of electricity and together both plants satisfy the power needs of about 230,000 Norwegian households.
Work at the Tonstad power plant will take place incrementally and it is scheduled to begin in 2017 with the installation of auxiliary systems. Work at the new control systems will take place between 2018 and 2022.
At the Solhom plant, work will run parallel with Tonstad and auxiliary systems are scheduled for commissioning in 2019. New control systems at the plant will be installed between 2020 and 2021.
Tonstad and Solhom project manager Torgeir Myrvold said: “This is a really exciting and demanding project. There are several technical challenges and we always have to consider that the other units in the power plant will be in full operation during the modernization.
“However, thanks to our experience and close collaboration with the customer, our highly dedicated team will be able to successfully complete the project within the scheduled time period.”
Sira-Kvina kraftselskap, owned by Lyse Produksjon, Statkraft Energi, Skagerak Kraft and Agder Energi Vannkraft, has over 1760MW of installed capacity with an average annual power production of 6300GWh from seven power plants.
Image: Voith receives contract to upgrade control systems at two hydropower plants in Norway. Photo: Courtesy of The Voith GmbH.
