A new 96 T transformer delivered to Clyde Dam
New Zealand: The Clyde Dam transformers have reached the end of the line and are being replaced by owner operator Contact Energy.
Image source: The Central App
New Zealand: The Clyde Dam transformers have reached the end of the line and are being replaced by owner operator Contact Energy.
The company said it was “a mammoth job”, involving a 25-strong project team and global cooperation.
The first new transformer was manufactured and shipped from South Korea – a journey that took longer than anticipated due to Covid-19 and weather related challenges.
Contact Energy project manager Kirk Pritchard said as well as physical logistics they had hit up against Covid-19 related delays.
“We had to do testing over Zoom and the shipping has been impacted… There were multiple delays due to hold ups in port and lockdowns in China. Most recently there was an outbreak of Covid on the ship before it was due to pick the transformer up in South Korea.
“This meant the ship had to go to Vietnam and get a new crew before it could go to pick the transformer up. This pushed the arrival into June, so now we await to see if we have further weather-related delays for the truck journey. The joys of unusual equipment delivery.”
The original transformers at the Clyde Dam were installed when the dam itself was built on the Mata-Au (Clutha) river in the 1980s.
The dam is the third largest hydroelectric dam in New Zealand and was commissioned in 1992.
It is also the largest concrete gravity dam in Aotearoa. It has a million cubic metres of concrete in the dam and another 200,000 cubic metres in the powerhouse.
The hydro power station is capable of producing 432 MW of power from its four turbine generator units.
The company also runs the nearby Roxburgh Dam, which was commissioned in 1956.
Source: The Central App
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