Hydro-mechanical equipment, Steel hydraulic components for demonstration plants in Central Asia take shape

Since the beginning of the Hydro4U project, the partners have been working together on the planning and installation of two small hydropower plants in Central Asia.

For the demonstration hydropower plant in At-Bashy, Kyrgyzstan, in addition to the turbine components supplied by project partner Global Hydro Energy, Austria, many hydraulic steelwork components (stop logs, penstocks and trash racks, as well as a trash rack cleaner) were also planned. This is where the company Erhard Muhr GmbH, Germany, comes into play. They are experienced in manufacturing of hydropower equipment. As part of Hydro4U their core activities are the economic and ecological optimisation of the Hydroshaft Power Plant equipment, the manufacturing, supply and installation of trash racks with integrated cleaning device, flow regulation gates, stop logs, as well as the validation.

They calculated and constructed these in detail for the demo-site in At-Bashy using up to date CAD and FEM tools. From autumn 2023 until the end of 2023, this first phase was completed and Muhr focused on the production of these parts ever since including production planning and purchasing. Since 2024, they have been directly involved in the production of the components.

Components, such as the stainless steel guides for the top water dam panel, the regulating gate and the underwater dam panel and their lifting beams, and the supports for the shaft rakes are embedded in the concrete during construction work are ready for delivery to the demo-site. Due to the climatic conditions, the guide for the penstock is equipped with piping for a heating system. This system will keep the gate operational even in the harsh winter conditions in Kyrgyzstan.

The stop logs are made of lightweight aluminum in order to keep the crane capacities required for assembly and disassembly as low as possible. It is possible that the dam panels will already enable or support the damming and drainage of the construction site for the installation of the remaining equipment.

Author: Fabian Böttger, Project Management, Muhr

Picture credits: Muhr