Voith to supply equipment for small hydropower plant Gradište

Technology group Voith has won an order for the manufacture, supply and commissioning of two StreamDivers for the Gradište small hydropower plant (SHPP) in Macedonia.

According to the company’s press release, the plant is one of 12 facilities currently planned for the river Vardar, with the aim of increasing the hydropower share within Macedonia’s total energy mix.

The equipment will be delivered to Skopje-based Bart Energy, Voith said.

The power plant is set to go into operation early in 2020 and will supply clean power to up to 900 households in the Jegunovce region north of the Macedonian capital Skopje.

SHPP Gradište in Macedonia will be equipped with two StreamDivers with a capacity of around 300 kW each.

“The StreamDiver turbine-generator unit is ideal for the new power plant location,” said Besfort Aliti, owner and managing director of Bart Energy Skopje.

He said that compared with a conventional vertical Kaplan turbine that would normally have been used, this equipment will secure significant benefits in respect of delivery time and on-site implementation.

For example, construction time is reduced by 60%, Aliti said, adding that there will be substantial savings in construction costs.

In its press release, Voith also said that with the two StreamDivers, the Gradište power plant is being equipped with small hydro technology that needs hardly any maintenance.

79 SHPPs already in operation

Currently, there are 79 SHPPs in Macedonia with an installed capacity of 72 MW.

At the end of 2017, Macedonia had 753 MW of installed capacity in renewables. The largest part comes from hydropower plants (HPPs) with 692 MW. The country has a 36.8 MW wind farm, 152 solar installations with 17 MW, and 3 biogas power plants with 7 MW. A few days ago, the Government of Macedonia announced tendering for solar power plants and a wind farm.

The Ministerial Council of the Energy Community recently adopted a decision to decrease the Macedonian 2020 target for the share of renewable energy sources from 28% to 23%.

The share at the end of 2016 was 18.2%.