Small hydro-electric power plant

Hydrostadium designs small hydro-electric power plants

Small hydro-electric power plants comprise a water intake structure, a water transfer structure and a hydro-electric plant. Depending on the topographical configuration, small hydro-electric power plants may be concentrated in a single location in the case of low head schemes, which may be equipped with turbines (Kaplan, VLH or Dive) which offer high flow rates for small head drops. Others may stretch over great distances: in the case of high head schemes, the water intake point is connected to the plant through a penstock and/or hydraulic tunnel that can reach several kilometres in length. These small hydro-electric power plants are equipped with Pelton turbines that are compatible with low flow rates and high head drops (several hundreds of metres). Between these two extremes, there is a wide range of plants and turbines: Francis, Banki, etc.

Hydrostadium has the expertise to design and monitor the construction of all of the small hydro-electric power plants mentioned above, as several references can testify.

All business lines combined

Our expertise encompasses all trades: from civil engineering (water intake, dam, power plant, penstock, sand trap) to instrumentation and control, as well as electromechanics (generators, valves), and thereby lets us offer clients a single port of call for the construction of their small hydro-electric power plant projects.

From design to implementation

We undertake the renovation of existing hydro-electric power plants, for example, Chavaroche power plant for EDF (replacement of generators, repair of access points, tailrace canal), take part in the construction of new installations such as the Ambres Fontenau power plant in Lavaur for ESL (river dam and plant with an installed capacity of 2,5 MW) and also work in the area of compensation-water power generation (L’escale, Beaumont Monteux).

The clients who entrust us with the construction of their small hydro-electric power plants include regional public organisations, local authorities, independent energy producers and EDF.

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