GE Renewable Energy has signed a contract to upgrade the Itaipu hydropower plant in Brazil and Paraguay.
GE Hydro Solutions will be responsible for the upgrade of the power plant. The hydro power plant has an installed capacity of 14 GW and is located on the Parana River between Brazil and Paraguay.
The project, considered the largest technological upgrade of the hydropower plant since its inauguration nearly 40 years ago, is expected to take 14 years and is primarily aimed at updating Itaipu’s technology. The upgrade includes equipment and systems of all 20 power generating units as well as the improvement of the hydropower plant’s measurement, protection, control, regulation and monitoring systems. In total, Itaipu Binacional covers an average 8.4 percent of Brazilian and 85.6 percent of Paraguayan electricity consumption.
The implementation of the project is scheduled to last 14 years and is supported by the Paraguayan partner companies CIE and Tecnoedil (responsible for the assembly and supply of general materials, respectively).
In addition to the modernization of the 20 power generating units, GE’s general scope of supply includes the supply of medium voltage cubicles, energy management systems, automation technology as well as the delivery of protection, control and supervision systems for the generating units, GIS substation and the existing 500 kV transmission lines, in addition to two new compact GIS substations to increase the reliability of the plant’s electrical auxiliary services.
Itaipu’s executive technical director, David Krug, points out that the upgrade of the plant is the result of extensive planning that began in the early 2000s and went through several phases.
Krug said the investment is necessary because many assets are analog or technologically outdated and have been in operation for almost 40 years. In some cases, the manufacturer no longer exists, making it impossible to replace parts.
Itaipu Binacional is the single plant that has produced the most energy in history: more than 2.8 billion Gigawatts-hour since 1984. The plant with 14 GW is the second largest hydropower plant in the world in terms of installed capacity. Each of the 20 generating units has the capacity to power a city of 1.8 million inhabitants. The dam has a height of nearly 200 meters and is eight kilometers long.