EPM makes good on its promise to the country: Hidroituango power generation units 3 and 4 are ready.
- Fecha de publicación
- 2023-10-27 00:00
- Titulo
- EPM makes good on its promise to the country: Hidroituango power generation units 3 and 4 are ready.
- Contenido
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- Hidroituango units 3 and 4 are available to generate 600 megawatts of clean and renewable energy for all Colombians
- Both units are awaiting approval of the test reports by XM to declare them in commercial operation
- On Friday, a symbolic act was held at the station to thank the workers and contractors for their commitment to the project
Medellín, Friday, October 27, 2023 (@epmestamosahi) | One month ahead of schedule, EPM successfully and safely synchronized power generation unit 4 of the Hidroituango power station. Following this technical milestone, the Station now has capacity to generate within the next few days 1,200 megawatts (MW) of electricity - an additional 600 MW- for Colombians located anywhere in the country.
Jorge Andrés Carrillo Cardoso, CEO of EPM, announced the good news for Colombians. “Following the technical tests, power generation unit 4 of the Hidroituango Power Station is now available, after having started up unit 3 last week. This concludes stage 1 of the Project, which includes four electric power generation units, each with capacity of 300 MW. A total of 1,200 MW of electricity, which we expect will have a positive impact on electricity prices for Colombians - at a challenging time, when the El Niño phenomenon is taking place. This will help improve the life quality of the community by providing the electricity they require for daily living, while contributing to reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions,” said CEO Carrillo Cardoso.
After thanking the team of the Power Station and the communities, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Andrés Camacho Morales, said on Friday, October 27, that “the 1,200 megawatts of electricity from Hidroituango mean energy security. It implies that we will have better energy conditions to overcome the El Niño phenomenon, and looking forward, it will improve the country’s energy reliability, security and self-sufficiency.”
Tests
Before making it available, unit 4 was subject to dry testing, with dead or non-flowing water, with flow and no charge, and synchronization testing, in order to assess the machine’s performance, fine-tune it and prepare it to comply with national regulatory requirements. In this way, it can be registered in the National Interconnected System (SIN, for the Spanish original) to being generating electricity for all Colombians. “Thanks to the experience gained by EPM and its contractors in installing, synchronizing and deploying units 1 and 2, this week we managed to make available units 3 and 4, following successful operating tests, in a safe and faster process,” highlighted CEO Carrillo Cardoso.
During the entire week different types of tests were run. “On Thursday, October 26, we ran the test called synchronization and rejection with charge and the maximum power possible in unit 4, through which we started up the equipment to synchronize it with the National Interconnected System (SIN). Then we gradually increased the power load until reaching 300 MW. Once this phase was complete, we intentionally interrupted the equipment in order to assess and determine the good performance of its electrical, mechanical and hydraulic features, and in general the entire system upon returning the system to zero power,” explained William Giraldo Jiménez, Vice-president of EPM Electricity Generation Projects.
Once available, units 3 and 4 are now ready for XM, the operator of the National Interconnected System (SIN) and manager of the Colombian Wholesale Energy Market, to approve the test reports and officially declare that the equipment is in commercial operation. This process is expected to be completed next week.
The availability of units 3 and 4 of Hidroituango arrives at the same time as the El Niño phenomenon. As an indication of its contribution, a single generation unit of Hidroituango (300 MW) can meet the electricity needs of a city with 540,000 inhabitants, equivalent to a city such as Ibagué or Pereira. Consequently, the 1,200 MW of electricity would be able to cover the needs of a city of over 2 million inhabitants.
What comes next
Officially, upon completion of stage 1 of Hidroituango, involving the first four power generation units, stage 2 will begin, which includes the civil works to start up operations at generation units 5 through 8, which will generate an additional 1,200 MW of electricity. This construction stage will be performed by Consorcio CYS (whose partners are Yellow River CO., LTD Sucursal Colombia and Schrader Camargo S.A.S.).