Electrical dump-loads increasing spill capacity

The overall aim of this project is to increase dam safety by providing alternatives to conventional spillways in the form of electrical dump-loads enabling turbines to operate even in the event of an external grid blackout. The concept was succesfully tested in 2020 but no other tests have been carried out. Therefore, this project will explore the potential further.

One of the safety functions available are the spillways what can be opened in need of excess water discharge. This prevents the dam from overtopping and, in worst-case scenario, fail. If high flow events become more frequent the need to increase discharge capacity will increase and additional capacity ensured. For this purpose it has been argued that a dump-load solution is more cost effective compared with adding spillway capacity with conventional methods. In this project the objectives are to:

• Build competence in actual electrical load design
• Investigate how control systems should be designed in order to fill the capacity at all instances
• Strenghten knoweldge and experience in dump-load system implementation and integration in existing power plants
• Ensure compatibility with relay protection and saftety functions in the power plant