Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Aug. 14
By Demir Azizov - Trend:
The modernization of the first unit at Uzbekistan's Charvak hydropower plant (HPP) has been completed, Uzbek State Joint Stock Company (SJSC) 'Uzbekenergo' told Trend.
The Charvak HPP is the largest hydropower plant in the Chirchik-Bozsu cascade of hydropower plants.
Uzbekenergo said that in 2012, it concluded a contract with the Russian company 'Power Machines' for the modernization of four hydraulic units at the Charvak HPP.
Under the contract, the Russian company will work on the modernization of three hydro-generators of the power plant, which has a capacity of 155 megawatts. The company will replace the stator's winding on the hydro-generators and install new feed systems on them.
For the first, second and fourth hydraulic units, the Power Machines will produce three hydro-turbine impulse wheels.
Aside from that, the hydro-mechanical part of the regulators and oil pressure units will be modernized on all four hydraulic units. The system of automatic control of hydraulic units will be reconstructed by means of creating a visual control and management system.
The project will increase the capacity of each hydraulic unit from 155 megawatts to 175 megawatts, which will give an opportunity to generate an additional 120 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually.
It is expected that the project worth $53.79 million will be completed in the second half of 2015.
The project is financed with the funds of Uzbekenergo and a $35 million loan from the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan (FRDU).
Charvak HPP is the most powerful hydroelectric power plant in the Chirchik-Bozsu cascade of hydropower plants on the Chirchik River in Uzbekistan. The hydroelectric power plant's capacity stands at 620 megawatts, while the average annual generation is two billion kilowatt hours.
Previously it was reported that Uzbekistan is planning to build seven new HPPs worth nearly $1 billion and a total capacity of 937.6 megawatts. Those HPPs are planned to be built before 2021.
Currently, there are 45 power plants in Uzbekistan's power system. They have a total capacity of 12.8 megawatts.
Up to 90 percent of electricity is produced by 10 thermal power plants of Uzbekenergo with a total installed capacity of 10.6 million kilowatts. Some 29 HPPs with an installed capacity of 1.4 million kilowatts are mostly united within hydropower plant cascades.
The remainder of the electricity is generated by autonomous thermal power plants of the industry enterprises and small hydropower plants, belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of Uzbekistan.
According to official stats, in 2013, Uzbekistan increased electricity production by 3.2 percent up to 54.207 billion kilowatt hours as compared to 2012.
Edited by CN
