Flexibility Increase on Hydro Installed Base

Flexibility Increase on Hydro Installed Base Without Core Hardware Upgrade Expand the Existing Boundaries of your Electromechanical Equipment through Data, AI, Simulations and GE Hydro Domain Expertise With increasing wind and solar generation, changing hydrological conditions due to climate change (e.g. drought), and de-regulated power markets, hydropower units have to be operated more flexibly, e.g., at lower discharges, at lower heads, and/or with faster or more frequent ramp-ups/ramp- downs/start-ups. The units have to act as grid stabilizers. However, the existing hydro units have not been designed considering these new more constraining operating patterns. When operated outside its as-per- design operating conditions, a hydropower turbine is exposed to hydraulic phenomena that are demanding for the runner and that may result in the accelerated consumption of its lifetime. These phenomena are of 2 types: dynamic phenomena (e.g., rope or instabilities) and cavitation, and can generate cracks and erosion, respectively. They can occur in transient or stationary conditions. Aside from the runner, the rest of the shaft line may also be impacted by such phenomena (e.g. bearings, axial and radial thrust). GE Renewable Hydro has developed a comprehensive approach to unlock the untapped equipment potential while managing the risks and following the life consumptions. This approach is applicable to GE and non-GE machines and represents limited investment and downtime since it does not require to rehabilitate the core equipment. ENERGY TRANSITION & CLIMATE CHANGE ARE DRIVING THE NEED FOR FLEXIBILITY IN HYDRO HOW DOES GE APPROACH WORK? INFORMED DECISIONS BASED ON DATA LIMITED CAPEX & DOWNTIME WITH NO HARDWARE UPGRADE MAXIMIZE REVENUES USING UNTAPPED CAPACITY STEP 1: SITE TEST CAMPAIGN STEP 2: NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS STEP 3: ADVANCED MONITORING Coupled CFD/FEA simulations using actual stress from site Continuous monitoring with GE’s Hydro Edge Platformwhich embeds damage models Blade onboard Stress Measurements for 1 head and 1 unit • Decision support tools on how to operate the turbine and when to maintain it (what-if scenarios) • Extrapolation of results to other heads -> Full risk and damage hill charts • Second set of recommendations • Monitoring of changes of equipment behavior over time by GE experts • Damage models upgrades • Check of unit’s behavior • Measure actual mechanical stress • Mapping of damaging hydraulic phenomena • Quantification of fatigue incurred to the runner • Establish Equipment fatigue model • First set of recommendations on flexibility potential RISK MANAGEMENT MORE STARTS/STOPS (CYCLING) FASTER TRANSITIONS / START-UPS POWER UPRATE REDUCED HEAD LOWER PARTIAL LOAD