XFLEX Hydro

Alto Lindoso is a 630 MW hydropower plant situated on the Lima river in Portugal, installed with a 110m tall dam impounding its reservoir. Commissioned in 1992, the site represents a conventional hydro plant including two Francis turbines designed for high head (pressure) and power generation (without pumping). In XFLEX HYDRO, low cost opportunities to extend operating range and optimise power flexibility will be tested at the plant, and compared to the variable speed case.

Caniçada is a 70 MW hydropower plant with reservoir storage located in northern Portugal, originally commissioned in 1954 and more recently refurbished in 2017/2018. With two generating units rated at medium head and power generation, the aim for Caniçada in XFLEX HYDRO is to evaluate flexibility opportunities for medium scale hydro and, in particular, simulate potential conversion to variable speed.

View our video about the Alto Lindoso & Canicada project.

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Objectives

Alto Lindoso

Evaluate low CAPEX opportunities to extend services offered by an existing reservoir storage plant (Francis turbine type) and compare them to a conversion to variable speed. Options to investigate are:

Extension of the operating range targeting an almost continuous power output from near zero to rated power;
Advanced joint control to adapt the dispatching rules according to optimisation criteria (efficiency, wear and tear, maintenance plan, etc.).

These opportunities will be compared to a conversion to variable speed for a high head, large output reservoir storage hydropower plant - through numerical analysis and experimental investigation.

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Caniçada

Transpose evaluation to Caniçada, a medium head, small size reservoir storage plant, and assess the potential of enhanced system integration of the full-scale frequency converter technology at this type of hydropower site.

Due to the cost of the potential conversion, the adaptation to variable speed and validation of the associated benefits will not be implemented in full-scale at Caniçada, but rather will be carried out through numerical simulations and a software-in-the-loop reduced scale model on electrical test bench.

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Key Tasks

Alto Lindoso

Initial studies
Database feed-in for the Alto Lindoso demonstrator
Evaluation of conversation to variable speed operation
Smart Power Plant Supervisor (SPPS) adaption to enhanced reservoir storage hydropower plant (RHP)
Installation and operation
Conclusions

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Partners involved in this demonstration

full-scale apllications

During the project, the flexibility technologies will be trialled at 7 demonstration sites. These are located at existing European hydropower stations. Each XFLEX HYDRO demonstration site will test a different technological configuration, installed together with the Smart Power Plant Supervisor in every case.

BATTERY/ TURBINE HYBRID

Vogelgrun is a 142 MW run-of-river hydropower plant in France, situated near the border with Germany along the river Rhine.

ENHANCED FIXED SPEED

Alto Lindoso is a 630 MW hydropower plant situated on the Lima river in Portugal. Caniçada is a 70 MW hydropower plant located in northern Portugal

HYDRAULIC SHORT CIRCUIT

Alqueva is a pumped storage scheme in southern Portugal that was built in two phases, Alqueva I and II, now totalling 520 MW.

HYDRAULIC SHORT CIRCUIT

Sitting in the French Alps, Grand'Maison is Europe’s largest pumped storage plant at 1,800 MW capacity.

VARIABLE SPEED (DFIM)

Frades 2 is a new 780 MW pumped storage hydropower plant in northern Portugal.

VARIABLE SPEED (FSFC)

Z’Mutt is a pumping station located in Canton Valais, Switzerland, and feeds water into the main reservoir of the Grande Dixence hydroelectric scheme.