COMMISSION INTERNATIONALE

DES GRANDS BARRAGES

-------
VINGT TROISIEME CONGRES
DES GRANDS BARRAGES
Brazilia, Mai 2009
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RAPPORT CFBR / Q. 88





TEHRI PUMPED STORAGE PLANT PROJECT: THE CHALLENGE OF HIGH
HEAD VARIATIONS

Boris SMONDACK
Project Engineer, COYNE ET BELLIER, France

Daniel FAYOLLE
Partner, POWER CONSULTING ASSOCIATES, France

Sabha Kant SHUKLA
Director Technical, TEHRI HYDRO DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, India

G.M. PRASAD,
General Manager Civil and HM Design, TEHRI HYDRO DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION, India

FRANCE



1 INTRODUCTION


The 4x250 MW Tehri Pump Storage Plant (Tehri PSP), located in the North
of India (State of Uttarakhand), is an integral part of Tehri Hydro Power Complex
(HPC).
The construction of Tehri PSP is intended to be awarded on an EPC type-
base in 2008, for a total implementation duration period of 54 months.
For this project, the main challenging characteristic is the exceptionally wide
head range of operation, from approximately 130 to 230 m, in both pump and
turbine mode, which will constitute the widest head variation worldwide for a
pump storage plant.
The article aims at presenting the context, the main features of this
outstanding project as well as the technological solutions that have been retained
to cope with the large head variations.

2 BACKGROUND


2.1 PUMPED STORAGE PLANTS AND INDIAN MARKET


The development of Pumped Storage Plants in providing peaking power
and maintaining stability in power system is gaining importance in India. The
relatively low cost of off-peak energy and surplus power which may come from
run off river hydro, thermal, nuclear stations etc. is utilized to pump water from
lower (tail) reservoir to an upper (head) reservoir for a Pumped Storage Scheme.
The water from the upper reservoir is used for generation of power to meet the
demand during peak hours. In addition, pumped storage plants increase capacity
utilization and reduce operational problems of thermal power stations, thereby
improving the overall economy of power system operation. The energy output
from the pumped storage plant being less than the energy input does not obscure
the fact that when compared to the substantial savings in fuel, when these
stations are operated in an integrated manner, the loss to the system is small.

The Pumped Storage Plants do not depend on hydro potential and can be
developed at sites with very little run-off and also at developed / existing sites with
storage / pondage reservoirs (head and or tail). The supply of peak power from
pumped storage plants is different from the supply of peak power from
conventional hydro plants as its feasibility depends upon reliable availability of
surplus off peak power capacity in the system on the basis of existing capacity or
on the basis of projected thermal / nuclear plants.

The hydro power potential in India has been estimated as 150 000 MW
(corresponding to 84 044 MW at 60% load factor ) with 845 identified schemes
whereas 56 sites of Pumped Storage Plants with total installed capacity of 94,000
MW with individual capacities varying from 600 MW to 2 800 MW have been
identified. The Indian Power System requires a hydro thermal mix of 40:60 for
flexibility & efficiency in system operation in view of typical load pattern. The
present ratio of hydro thermal mix is 26:74, which may further be skewed in view
of capacity addition in thermal sources. So far, only about 23% of conventional
hydro potential and 3.4% of PSP has been developed in India. The peak shortage
of Power is of the order of 13.8%. Thus, there is an immense need for
development of hydropower for alleviating peak power shortages.
The regions with identified potential for Pumped Storage Scheme include
13 065 MW in Northern region, 38 220 MW in Western region, 16 650 MW in
Southern region, 9 085 MW in Eastern region and 16 900 MW in North Eastern
region. The Western region because of topographical features with steep
gradients of rivers originating from Western Ghats has the largest potential (about
40% of the total).

It is observed from the frequency duration curve for the months from April
2005 to December 2005 for the Northern region that for around 20 to 30% of time,
grid frequency is more than 50 Hz and for around 5 to 15% of time, grid frequency
is lower than 49 Hz. This frequency duration curve would smoothen and would
result in optimum balance in grid with the operation of Pumped Storage Plants.
The power could be drawn for pumping during off peak hours, when high
frequency conditions exist in the grid & the Unscheduled Interchange (UI) charges
are low and returned to the beneficiary States during peak hours when UI charges
are quite high.

The development of Pumped Storage Plants in the country has not been
encouraged and up to the end of Fifth five year plan i.e. till 31/03/1980 no
pumped storage plant was installed. It was only in the Sixth Plan that the first
pumped storage hydro electric scheme Nagarjunasagar (7x100 MW) in the State
of Andhra Pradesh was installed. First six units of 100 MW each of the Project
were commissioned in the Sixth Five year Plan (ending) March, 1985. The
maximum pumped storage development had been in Southern region followed by
Eastern Region and Western Region.

The availability of sites of conventional hydropower project is on decline; as
such the exploitation of pumped storage potential could go a long way in meeting
the ever increasing demand of peak power.


2.2 THE CONTEXT OF TEHRI PSP


One of the few sites in Northern region of India suitable for development of
PSP is the Tehri Pumped Storage Plant. The main power house cavern of Tehri
PSP is located adjacent to the existing cavern of Tehri Hydro Power Plant, which
is under operation and all the four units, each of 250 MW, are in commercial
generation mode since July, 2007. Location of Tehri Hydro Complex, in the
Ganga Valley in the Himalayas, which has a very large hydroelectric power
potential, is illustrated in Fig. 1
The river Ganga (Ganges) has two major tributaries: Bhagirathi and
Alaknanda, which join at Deoprayag to form river Ganga. The huge water and
power potential of this river remains largely, untapped. Though, few hydroplants
have been commissioned in Ganga Valley, a number of schemes have been
identified to tap the vast potential. These schemes are under various stages of
investigation and execution. The Tehri Pumped Storage Plant is one of such
schemes, the works of which shall be awarded in 2008 on an EPC basis and shall
be completed in 54 months time.
















Fig.1
Location of Tehri PSP Project
Localisation du projet Tehri PSP


3 PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS


Tehri Pumped Storage Plant is part of the Stage-II development of Tehri
Hydro Power Complex. The Tehri Hydro Power Complex Comprises of Tehri Dam
& Hydro Power Plant (4x250 MW), Tehri Pumped Storage Plant (4x250 MW)
and Koteshwar Hydro-electric Project (4x100 MW). The Stage-I of the Complex
consists of a 260.5 m high earth and rock fill dam, chute and shaft spillways,
water conductor system and underground transformer hall and underground
power house cavern housing 4 conventional units, each of 250 MW. As
mentioned above all the four units are in commercial operation since July 2007.
Stage II of the complex consists of a Pumped Storage Plant of installed capacity
of 1 000 MW (4 reversible turbine units, each of 250 MW and housed in an
TEHRI PSP
underground cavern) and Koteshwar Hydroelectric Project of installed capacity of
400 MW (4 conventional units, each of 100 MW). The Koteshwar Dam, a 97.5 m
high concrete dam is being constructed about 20 km downstream of Tehri Dam
on the same river, Bhagirathi. The Koteshwar Project, under advanced stage of
construction, shall form the downstream reservoir for the Tehri Pumped Storage
Plant.

Many of the structures of Tehri PSP were so designed that they had to be
completed with Tehri Stage I works. These structures included Intakes, headrace
tunnels, and maintenance gate shafts. The underground transformer hall of size
161 m (L) x 18.5 m (W) x 34.5 m (H) for Tehri Stage I shall also accommodate the
four generator transformers for PSP. The main cable tunnel and interface facility
for power evacuation have already been completed. Major civil works to be taken
up in PSP involve construction of upstream and downstream surge shafts,
machine hall (underground), penstocks, bus duct galleries, tailrace tunnels and
outlet structure. The butterfly valve chamber & penstock assembly chamber
constructed for Stage I works shall be extended for Stage II works. Each of the
two concrete lined headrace tunnels of 8.5 meter diameter, having lengths of 997
m and 1 033 m has an upstream surge shaft at its end. The headrace tunnel
bifurcates into two steel lined penstocks in the upstream surge shaft to feed two
turbines. The water from turbine units will be discharged into two tailrace tunnels
of 9 meter diameter, which would carry water of all the four units into the
downstream reservoir. The construction of the underground structures of Tehri
PSP shall pose a challenging task as it would be executed within a surcharged
rock mass formed because of Tehri reservoir. The layout of Tehri HPP & Tehri
PSP is shown in Fig. 2. The cross-section through waterway of PSP is shown in
Fig. 3.

The Project would generate an average annual energy of 1 377 GWh . With
the construction of Tehri PSP, Tehri HPC shall function as a major peaking
station having an installed capacity of 2 400 MW.




Fig.2
General Layout of Tehri HPP and PSP
Disposition gnrale des ouvrages de Tehri HPP et Tehri PSP




Fig.3
Tehri PSP Longitudinal Section through waterways
Tehri PSP Section longitudinale le long du chemin deau

4 PLANT OPERATION: THE CHALLENGE OF HIGH HEAD VARIATION


4.1 OPERATION CHARACTERISTICS


The reservoir of Tehri Dam will operate as the upper reservoir and
Koteshwar reservoir as the lower reservoir. The availability of water for Tehri PSP
will be therefore governed by the mode of operation of the Tehri Power Complex.
Tehri Dam reservoir has a live storage capacity of 2 600 millions m
3
, which
allows for inter-seasonal regulations. The Tehri Dam which has created the upper
reservoir will allow the monsoon water to be stored up to El. 830 m (Full Reservoir
Level). The water shall be released as per peak demand of the grid besides
fulfilling the irrigation requirements and shall be brought down to Mean Drawdown
Level (MDDL) at El. 740 m before the monsoon of the next season. As shown in
Fig. 4, yearly decrease of the reservoir water level starts after the end of the
monsoon period, that is to say at the end of June. The reservoir reaches its
minimum water level at the end of June. During the monsoon period, between
July and September, the reservoir level rapidly increases to reach its maximum
elevation at the end of September. Within a year, the gross head may vary
between around 227 and 127.5 m.
The daily operation of Tehri PSP has negligible influence on the upstream
and upstream reservoirs level. Within a daily cycle of pumping-turbining, the gross
head can be assumed as constant. During monsoon period, production at Tehri
HPP will be maximum. Pumping mode of Tehri PSP is assumed not to be used.



Fig.4
Yearly Mean Gross Head Variation between Tehri and Koteshwar Reservoir
Variations annuelles de la chute brute entre le rservoir de Tehri et de
Koteshwar
Est i ma t ed Gro ss he ad evolut io n t hro ug h o ne ave rag ed ye ar
100
150
200
250
J
u
n
e
2
1
-
3
0
J
u
ly
0
1
-
1
0
J
u
ly
1
1
-
2
1
J
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ly
2
1
-
3
1
A
u
g
u
s
t 0
1
-
1
0
A
u
g
u
s
t 1
1
-
2
1
A
u
g
u
s
t 2
1
-
3
1
S
e
p
t 0
1
-
1
0
S
e
p
t 1
1
-
2
1
S
e
p
t 2
1
-
3
0
O
c
t 0
1
-
1
0
O
c
t 1
1
-
2
1
O
c
t 2
1
-
3
1
N
o
v
0
1
-
1
0
N
o
v
1
1
-
2
1
N
o
v
2
1
-
3
0
D
e
c
0
1
-
1
0
D
e
c
1
1
-
2
1
D
e
c
2
1
-
3
1
J
a
n
0
1
-
1
0
J
a
n
1
1
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2
1
J
a
n
2
1
-
3
0
F
e
b
0
1
-
1
0
F
e
b
1
1
-
2
1
F
e
b
2
1
-
3
0
M
a
r
0
1
-
1
0
M
a
r
1
1
-
2
1
M
a
r
2
1
-
3
0
A
p
r
0
1
-
1
0
A
p
r
1
1
-
2
1
A
p
r
2
1
-
3
0
M
a
y
0
1
-
1
0
M
a
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1
1
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1
M
a
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2
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0
J
u
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J
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1
1
-
2
1
M onths
G
r
o
s
s

H
e
a
d

[
m
]
MONSOO N PERI O D

Such outstanding feature implies that a conventional synchronous single
speed pump-turbine solution will lead to important drawbacks for the project: (1)
as often in pump-turbine performance, the best efficiency point when turbining is
out of the operating head range, (2) the efficiency would deteriorate sharply as
soon as the head is far away from the rated head particularly in case of low
delivery head in pumping (around -20 %), (3) the required submergence to avoid
any cavitation risk (estimated at -150 m) is extremely high as illustrated in Fig. 5,
(4) it would imply difficulties in designing and manufacturing reliable shaft seal
and a risk of counter thrust and (5) imply greater diameters of the upstream and
downstream guard valves.

(Head- Discharge) characteristics curve
100
125
150
175
200
225
250
275
300
70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170
Q[m3/s]
H
e
a
d

[
m
]
Hminimum
HMaximum
(Submergence - Discharge) characteristics curve
0
50
100
150
200
70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170
Q[m3/s]
-

s
u
b
m
e
r
g
e
n
c
e

v
a
l
u
e

[
m
]Hminimum
HMaximum

Fig.5
Conventional Head-Discharge and Submergence-Discharge characteristics
curves in pumping mode
Courbes caractristiques usuelles de charge-dbit et submergence-dbit en
mode pompe


4.2 MINIMIZING CONVERSION LOSS


It should be reminded that a Pumped Storage Plant is basically an energy
consumer and not an energy producer. Its asset is to value such energy by
releasing it at the most appropriate period of time. The consumed energy to
perform these pump-turbine cycles is therefore of prime interest, as this feature
directly impact the profitability of the project. Basically, the losses involved in
every cycle - head losses in the hydraulic circuit, turbine conversion losses and
electrical losses - should be minimized. Any effort to reduce any of those strongly
impacts the performance of the scheme as they are counted twice (during
pumping and during turbining).
The Conversion loss, which is to be understood as the total energy loss rate
within the year, that is to say for the entire range of head variations, was defined
as the key objective performance parameter for Tehri PSP. The challenging target
of THDC to keep the Conversion Loss below 20% directly impacted the technical
requirements and the contractual aspects of the projects.
In particular, as described here above, the conventional pump-turbine
solution is not able to face such objective. Alternate solution had therefore to be
found.



5 TECHNOLOGICAL ALTERNATIVES: VARIABLE SPEED MACHINES


Hydropower engineers and turbines specialists have known for a long time
that the efficiency of a hydraulic turbine, working at different heads or loads, can
be significantly improved if the turbine speed is adapted to the head or load. In
addition, as already mentioned, if the turbine is to be operated as a pump, the
optimum efficiency speed for the machine operating as a pump is different to that
of the machine operating as a turbine. This is because the specific speed of a
pump is greater than that of a geometrically similar machine working as a turbine.
Therefore theoretically two different speeds would normally be necessary, for
optimal efficiency, if a machine is to operate as turbine and pump, one speed for
turbine operation and one for pump operation. Furthermore when the head
variation is large it is difficult to design a single machine with good efficiency over
the whole head range. Compromise solutions have therefore been generally
adopted.


5.1 TWO-SPEED MACHINES


The above has been true for a long time. As it is necessary for the machine
to be connected to the grid with a fixed frequency it was difficult to modify the
speed of the electrical machine. The first historical step towards the resolution of
this problem was to use two speed synchronous generator motor. This technique
has allowed obtaining a better overall efficiency operation both as pump and as
turbine especially when the head variation was appreciable.
Basically the two speed synchronous motor-generator is a synchronous
machine with two windings arrangements in the stator and with a possibility of
poles commutation on the rotor in order that the stator and rotor number of poles
match. Clearly this entails some complications and the resulting rotor is also
heavier. Furthermore the possible combinations of dual speeds are somewhat
limited. Nonetheless this technique has been applied with some success on some
pumped storage schemes although this came at a cost. The principal problems
were the significant increase in cost of the machine added to an appreciable
increase in weight of the machine rotor. Furthermore this increase in weight had a
knock-on effect on other aspects of the plant. The thrust bearings had to be
increased in capacity with consequential increase in thermal losses of this
bearing. Similarly the power house crane capacity had to be higher because the
increase in weight for a dual-speed rotor is quite appreciable. Lastly, the machine
itself is slightly less efficient than a conventional single speed synchronous motor
generator.


5.2 THE ADVENT OF POWER ELECTRONICS


The advent of power electronics, with the invention of the thyristor also
called the silicon controlled rectifier, marked a new era for electrical engineering
in general. It allowed designers for the first time to design continuously variable,
variable-speed alternating current machines. Up to then only direct current
machines could have continuous variable speed features. However the first power
electronics components were of limited power capabilities and only applications to
very small machines could be contemplated in those early years and more
specifically the small induction electric motors.
It was not until the 1980s that we began to see high capacity power
electronics components appearing on the market, allowing the design of medium
voltage variable speed machines and a whole range of variable speed
technologies applicable to both squirrel cage and rotor-wound induction motors
and also to synchronous machines. In these early years high power electronics
components applications were mainly limited to variable speed of medium voltage
induction electric motors of ratings not too far above the MW. Applications were in
the field of metallurgy and steel rolling mills and also in the field of railway traction
etc. This is also when variable speed application to hydropower became a
possibility.
We can say that the first application of power electronics and variable speed
to hydropower was the that of the replacement of the traditional starting device of
pump turbines of hydroelectric pumped storage plants (which was mainly the
pony motor until then), by the static variable frequency converter (SVFC). This
electronic device is basically a device for supplying power to the synchronous
generator motor at a frequency from 0 to 50 Hz. This is necessary as the
synchronous machine is not a self starting machine when connected directly to
the grid at 50 Hz. It has to be first brought to synchronous speed before being
locked onto the grid and then continue to operate as a motor at synchronous
frequency. The only power these devices had to supply was for overcoming
frictional losses of the dewatered machine in order to bring the machine to
synchronous speed. Thus the rating required of these devices is limited and this
was also the limit of technological possibilities anyway.

5.3 TECHNOLOGICAL POSSIBILITIES FOR LARGE HYDROPOWER MACHINES


The application of variable speed power electronics to large hydropower
synchronous machines has been limited and is still limited by available
technology on the market. Hydropower machines are essentially large machines
of tens or a few hundreds of MW and the maximum available ratings of variable
speed converters is still modest. Therefore direct application of variable speed to
synchronous machines has been somewhat limited.
To circumvent the power limitations of the variable speed converters
designers turned their attention to the wound rotor induction machine. By injecting
a slip frequency current to the rotor of these machines the machines speed could
be controlled and made to vary from very low sub-synchronous speed to speeds
above synchronous speed. These machines are also known as doubly fed
asynchronous machines (DFAM). The slip power required for effecting these
variations in speed was much lower than the stator power. Thus a limited rating
frequency converter was enough for controlling the speed of a much larger
machine. We understand that machines of the order of 400 MVA are planned to
be commissioned in the near future.
The first pumped storage hydropower plants to which this technique was
applied were commissioned in Japan in the 1990s. And in those days the
technology used was the cycloconverter. In effect the cycloconverter is a power
electronics technique for obtaining a low frequency three phase output from a 50
Hz grid supply. Thus the low frequency current obtained was fed to the rotor of
the doubly fed asynchronous machine while its stator was fed by the 50 Hz grid.
Since that date a number of pumped storage variable speed units have
been commissioned. Most of these machines are in Japan. However one of the
latest plants to be commissioned was Goldisthal in Germany where the
cycloconverter variable speed technology was also applied.
The cycloconverter is a fairly complicated technique requiring three three-
winding transformers and a complicated structure with a large number of power
semiconductors. Besides these converters do not allow the starting of the motor
up to synchronous speed from the electronic device itself and thus an additional
separate SVFC is also required for starting the machine as a motor in the
pumping mode.
The latest technological evolution of variable speed for pumped storage
schemes is the multi-level Voltage Source Inverter (VSI). These variable speed
devices also work by injection of a slip frequency current to the rotor of an
asynchronous machine. They have a more simple architecture; do not require the
expensive three-winding transformers needed for 12-pulse mode, as the cyclo-
converters, and also they are made with far less electronic power devices. In
addition these devices allow starting of the machine in motor mode for pumping
operations. They are in essence simpler, less bulky, of lower ratings than
cycloconverters and offer superior technical features.


5.4 THE CASE OF TEHRI PUMPED STORAGE PLANT


In the case of Tehri Pumped Storage Plant, the Owner chose to have
asynchronous variable speed generator motors fed by VSI Inverters Excitation
systems. The four machines will have nominal ratings of 250 MW when operating
as turbines at a specified head.
Studies have been made by the Owner and his Consultant and the choice
had been between dual-speed synchronous speed machines and continuously
variable asynchronous machines for some time.
Fig. 6 clearly illustrates the advantage of variable speed versus one single
speed or dual-speed. In a conventional fixed speed installation, for a given head,
there is only one operation point in pumping mode. Such operation point is, for
most lift heads, far away from the best efficiency point. Furthermore, the power
input per machine cannot be controlled by the operator. In contrast, with variable
speed machine, any point of the doted line within the light blue area is accessible.
Consequently the pump can be operated from low power (point n8) to high
power (point n10) depending on the available power in the network. If the pump
is not used for power compensation in the network, it can be operated at best
efficiency (point n9).



Fig.6
Tehri PSP Illustrative Head-Discharge capacity Curve in Pumping Mode
Tehri PSP - Courbe caractristique hauteur-dbit en mode Pompe

1 Minimum pump Lift
2 Maximum Pump lift
3 Possible Pumping Operation range
4 Optimum operation curve (maximize
efficiency)
5 Maximum speed (256 rpm)
6 Minimum speed (214 rpm)
7 Increase of Speed and Power Input
8 Lowest operation point for a given head
(low Power Input)
9 Optimum operation point for a given
head (maximize efficiency)
10 Highest operation point for a given
head (high Power Input)
1 Hauteur de refoulement minimum
2 Hauteur de refoulement maximum
3 Zone dopration en mode pompe
4 Courbe de rendement optimal
5 Vitesse Maximum (256 t/min)
6 Vitesse Minimum (214 t/min)
7 Sens de laugmentation de la vitesse et
de la puissance consomme
8 Point bas dopration pour une hauteur
donne (basse puissance consomme)
9 Point optimum dopration pour une
hauteur donne (maximum de
rendement)
10 Point haut dopration pour une hauteur
donne (haute puissance consomme)


In the case of Tehri PSP the plant is intended to be operated so that the
machines are mostly run at their optimal efficiency point whatever the head
available. This means that the machines speed is intended to be mostly adjusted
in such a way that they always run at best efficiency point of the pump turbine on
the best efficiency locus line (illustrated by a red line in figure 6).

Given (1) the extremely large head variation for operation of this plant, (2)
the expected efficiency gains, minimizing therefore the total cycle conversion
losses (3) the flexibility of operation in pumping mode and (4) the lower required
submergence, the choice was finally made to use continuously variable speed
asynchronous machines with VSI Excitation. In essence Tehri PSP is intended to
be a modern, state-of-art technology plant offering very interesting features on the
plant efficiency standpoint.



6 CONCLUSION


Tehri PSP is a challenging project requiring state-of-the art technology in
civil works and electro-mechanical equipments. Despite the outstanding large
head variations, the optimization of conversion efficiency has been a constant
objective during design stage of the project. Adopting the latest available
technology with variable speed machines will not only fulfil such challenging
target, but it will also provide a much more flexible mode of operation. This
technology should meet with a rapid expansion, in particular for Pump Storage
Plants, for which conversion efficiency is of prime importance.


REFERENCES



[1] COYNE ET BELLIER & EDF, Tehri Pumped Storage Plant Project,
Detailed Project Report, May 2002.



SUMMARY


The development of Pumped Storage Plants in providing peaking power
and maintaining stability in power system is gaining importance in India. One of
the few sites in Northern region of India suitable for development of PSP is the
Tehri Pumped Storage Plant (Tehri PSP). The 4x250 MW Project, located in the
North of India (State of Uttarakhand), is an integral part of Tehri Hydro Power
Complex (HPC) comprising of (1) a 260-m-high earth-and-rock-fill dam (Tehri
dam), already completed, (2) an underground 1000-MW hydropower plant (Tehri
HPP), completed, (3) a combined 400 MW hydro-power plant and dam
(Koteshwar), currently under construction.
Major civil works to be taken up in PSP involve the challenging construction
of upstream and downstream surge shafts, underground machine hall, penstocks,
bus duct galleries, tailrace tunnels and outlet structure.
The reservoir of Tehri Dam will operate as upper reservoir and Koteshwar
reservoir as lower reservoir. The availability of water for Tehri PSP will be
governed by the mode of operation of the Tehri Power Complex. During non-peak
hours, water from lower reservoir would be pumped back to upper reservoir by
utilizing the surplus available power from the grid.
For this project, the main challenging characteristic is the exceptionally wide
head range of operation, from approximately 130 to 230 m, in both pump and
turbine mode, which will constitute the widest head variation worldwide for a
Pump Storage Plant. Such a feature implies that standard solution with single-
speed reversible units would lead to major drawbacks: high loss in pump-turbine
efficiency for large portions of the head range, cavitation risk, prohibitive setting
level, rigid mode of operation. The first alternative solution would consist in
installing two-speed synchronous generator-motors coupled to conventional
pump-turbines. As a result, two distinct synchronous generator-motors windings
would be available, each with its own rated speed but in the same frame.
Depending on the available head, the most suitable speed would be then selected
for allowing the pump-turbine to work with the best efficiency. The second
alternative consists in installing variable-speed asynchronous generator-motors
coupled to conventional pump-turbines. Such arrangement allows the unit to work
within a variable speed range. Frequency is then adjusted in order to enable the
pump-turbine to operate at the highest efficiency possible for each available head.
Given that one the main objective of the scheme is to minimize the mean
loss for a pump-turbine cycle, and given its high operation flexibility, the variable
speed solution has been selected for Tehri PSP. This technology should meet
with a rapid expansion, in particular for Pump Storage Plants, for which
conversion efficiency is of prime importance.


RESUME
Lutilisation de stations de pompage-turbinage, qui permettent de fournir de
la puissance pendant les priodes de pointe et contribuent la stabilit du rseau
lectrique, se dveloppe en Inde. L'usine de turbinage-pompage de Tehri (Tehri
PSP) est un des emplacements de la rgion nord de l'Inde appropri au
dveloppement de ce type damnagement. Ce projet de 4x250 MW, situ dans
ltat de l'Uttarakhand, fait partie du complexe de Tehri Hydro Power (Tehri
HPC) comprenant (1) un barrage en enrochements de 260 m de hauts (barrage
de Tehri), construit, (2) une usine souterraine hydrolectrique de 1000-MW (Tehri
HPP), ralise, (3) une usine d'hydrolectrique de 400 MW et un barrage
(Koteshwar), actuellement en cours de construction.
Les travaux de gnie civil comprennent la construction de chemines
dquilibre amont et aval, dune salle souterraine des machines, de conduites
forces, de galeries de transmissions lectriques, de tunnels hydrauliques aval et
dune structure de sortie.
Le rservoir du barrage de Tehri fonctionnera en tant que rservoir
suprieur et la retenue de Koteshwar en tant que rservoir infrieur. La
disponibilit en eau pour Tehri PSP sera rgie par le mode de fonctionnement du
complexe de Tehri. Pendant les heures creuses, l'eau du rservoir infrieur sera
pomp vers le rservoir suprieur en utilisant le surplus de puissance disponible
dans le rseau lectrique.
Un des caractristiques exceptionnelle de ce projet est la variation
importante de chute, de 130 230 m environ, en pompage et en turbinage, ce qui
constituera la variation la plus importante pour une usine de turbinage-pompage.
Un tel dispositif implique que les solutions usuelles avec units rversibles
simple vitesse mneraient des inconvnients majeurs : chute du rendement de
la turbopompe pour une grande partie de la tranche de fonctionnement, risque de
cavitation, niveau de rglage vertical de laxe des turbines prohibitif, mode de
fonctionnement rigide. Une premire alternative consiste installer des
gnrateur-moteurs synchrones deux vitesses coupls aux turbopompes
conventionnelles. En consquence, deux enroulements synchrones distincts,
mais dans la mme armature, sont disponibles, chacun avec sa propre vitesse
spcifique. Selon la chute disponible, la vitesse la plus approprie peut alors tre
choisie pour permettre la turbopompe de fonctionner avec le meilleur
rendement. La deuxime alternative consiste installer des gnrateur-moteurs
asynchrones vitesse variable coupls aux turbopompes conventionnelles.
Un tel arrangement permet l'unit de fonctionner dans une marge variable de
vitesse et donc de dbit. La frquence peut alors tre ajuste afin de permettre
la turbopompe de fonctionner au rendement le plus lev possible pour chaque
hauteur de chute disponible.
tant donn quun des objectifs principal de lamnagement est de rduire
au maximum les pertes nergtiques des cycles de turbinage-pompage, et tant
donn la meilleure flexibilit d'opration, la solution vitesse variable a t
finalement retenue pour Tehri PSP. Cette technologie devrait rencontrer une
expansion rapide dans un avenir proche, en particulier pour les stations de
turbinage-pompage, pour lesquelles les questions de rendement sont
primordiales.
KEYWORDS / MOTS CLES

Tehri Dam Barrage de Tehri
Cavitation Cavitation
Earthfill Dam Barrage en remblai
Power Station Centrale
Power Supply Production dnergie