American Hydro to Upgrade the Keokuk Hydroelectric plant
energycioinsights

American Hydro to Upgrade the Keokuk Hydroelectric plant

Energy CIO Insights | Wednesday, October 21, 2020

American Hydro will perform rehabilitation services and complete the upgrade and refurbishment of Unit 5 and 15 turbines at Ameren's historic Keokuk Hydroelectric plant in Iowa, USA.

FREMONT, CA: American Hydro, a subsidiary of Wärtsilä Corporation, has been offered a significant contract to perform restoration services and complete the upgrade and refurbishment of Unit 5 and 15 turbines at Ameren's historic Keokuk Hydroelectric plant in Iowa, USA.

American Hydro designed, manufactured, and delivered new 200-inch, 120,000-pound Francis type runners for these units under a previous contract. The new deal consists of every type of field labor and supervision to conduct a simultaneous two-unit outage, disassembly of the primary turbine and generator components, shop and field rehabilitation, and machining. It also has to install the new runners and refurbished turbine components and commissioning of the upgraded turbines. Moreover, engineering and planning are presently ongoing, and the outages are scheduled to start this fall and get completed in the spring of 2021. By completing this work, American Hydro will have upgraded all 15 turbines at the Keokuk plant.

Warren Witt, director of hydro operations at Ameren Missouri, said, "For more than 100 years, the Keokuk Energy Center has provided clean, carbon-free energy to customers. Its continued safe, efficient operation is foundational to Ameren's net-zero carbon emissions goal."

According to Gerry Russell, Vice President of American Hydro," This contract represents the culmination of a 20-year partnership to upgrade the Keokuk hydroelectric plant. We appreciate the trust Ameren has placed in American Hydro throughout this process."

Initially, the 142 MW Keokuk hydroelectric plant was commissioned in 1913, and it is continuously operating with the original equipment since that time. Moreover, it is the largest privately owned and operated dam and hydroelectric generating plant on the Mississippi River. The plant is even mentioned in the National Register of Historic Places as Lock and Dam No. 19.

Check Out This: Precision Machining Companies

Weekly Brief

Read Also