First 100-tonne main inlet valve arrives at Gordon Power Station in Australia

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 2, a new main inlet valve for Hydro Tasmania arrived at Gordon Power Station, entering the preparatory phase for subsequent installation. The equipment, valued at AUD 8 million and weighing over 100 tonnes, measures 5.8 metres wide and 4.8 metres high. It is the first new unit in the project to replace the main inlet valves of all three generating units at Gordon Power Station, with installation scheduled for 2027. The remaining two units are expected to arrive within the next 24 months.

The new main inlet valve was designed by Hydro Tasmania in collaboration with Voith Hydro, drawing on the original equipment design documentation from 1971. Components were manufactured, assembled, and tested in Portugal, Spain, and Austria respectively, before being shipped from Belgium, routed via Africa to Melbourne, and then transported to Devonport, Tasmania. Unlike the original equipment, which was delivered in parts and assembled on site at the power station, the new valve was designed for transport and entry as a complete unit.

After the equipment arrived in Tasmania, local transport company Gradco undertook the overland haulage from Devonport to Strathgordon. Upon arrival at the power station, the valve was transferred to a remotely controlled dedicated transport platform and moved into the powerhouse via the approximately 1-kilometre-long underground access tunnel. To accommodate the 5.8-metre width of the complete unit, the project team pre-emptively removed some tunnel lighting fixtures and trimmed sections of rock, leaving only a few centimetres of clearance on either side of the equipment along certain stretches.

The main inlet valve replacement project at Gordon Power Station is scheduled to be carried out between 2026 and 2029, with all original main inlet valves of the three generating units to be replaced. This marks the first comprehensive replacement of this batch of equipment since the station commenced operation in the 1970s. Located 183 metres underground, Gordon Power Station has an installed capacity of 432 megawatts and is equipped with three Francis turbine-generator units. Hydro Tasmania has incorporated the main inlet valve replacement into the station's long-term refurbishment plan, with the Unit 2 upgrade scheduled from 2024 to 2026, the Unit 1 upgrade planned from 2027 to 2029, and Unit 3 slated for refurbishment from 2031 to 2033.