BOLINA HELPS IMPROVE OPERATIONS AT MONTEFURADO POWER PLANT IN SPAIN

Bolina helps improve operations at Montefurado Hydroelectric Power Plant in Galicia, Spain, through the successful deployment of its Log Screen Booms LSB600 to prevent build up of debris on one side of the dam.

Last year, we were approached to work on the Montefurado Hydroelectric Power Plant (Presa de Montefurado) in Quiroga, Lugo Province, in Spain’s Galicia region.

Operated by the Spanish energy giant Iberdrola, the Montefurado plant is located on the river Bibei and has a power capacity of 38.4MW and is part of the Montefurado Dam, which has a water capacity of 10.4 million cubic metres.

However, the plant has been facing several disruptions to its operations due to large amounts of heavy debris accumulating on one side of the dam. In order to resolve the issue, Bolina was approached and asked to provide a solution that would allow the plant to resume normal operations, following our successful work and the positive results achieved on a similar project at the nearby San Esteban power plant, where nearly 100 metres of Bolina Log Screen Booms (LSB600) were supplied and shown to efficiently contain the debris obstructing the dam there.

Therefore, we proposed the supply and installation of 47 modules (of a total length of 190 metres) of Bolina’s LSB600 booms with horse rails and pile floats. Supply on the project started in May 2020 and installation was completed in October 2020. Our client organised all the installation work for the project, including the building of the concrete structures on which the booms were anchored to.

We were called in for this project because of our extensive experience in helping to maintain power generation plants at some of the world’s major hydro dams, including the Kariba Dam in Zambia, and the Cahora Bassa Dam in Mozambique.

These dams often have an exceptional amount of natural floating debris carried downstream, which can have serious consequences for the plant’s operations, if there is a failure to control them.

Our LSB600/800/1000 series of booms used on these types of projects have a capacity of up to 100 tons break load, and up to 3 metres draft, using mesh screens that are joined to provide a seamless barrier for logs, trash, debris and so on, with full articulation of the boom’s universal joints that connect each module.

The wall rails accommodate our unique self-aligning compensator design, which allows the boom to smoothly follow any changes in water level regardless of the approach angle.

However, a major challenge on this project was that there was a lack of suitable structures on which to fix the booms at either end. Therefore, in order to resolve this, the client worked with us and oversaw the construction of two concrete structures, which were built at both ends, allowing the Bolina horse rails to be fixed. Once these were completed, the booms were delivered to site without any logistical problems, and the client’s personnel were able to assemble them with minimal issues.

Following the installation of the LSB600 boom, the feedback from the client has been positive, with the enormous amount of debris clogging up the dam now significantly reduced, thereby massively improving operations and reducing maintenance downtime.

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