Increased spill capacity for safe operation of dams

Dam safety is a very important concept within Hydropower operations. A dam that is not safe is compromising economic and environmental values and life as well.

One of the safety functions available close to a dam are the spillways what can be opened in need of discharge excess water. This prevents the dam from overtopping and, in worst-case scenario, failure. During flooding conditions, the external power grid can be unavailable and the hydropower turbines cannot operate to transport water downstream.

This application aims at completing a simplified version of a previous tested safety function to enable operation of the turbines. The components used have to have a longevity and always work, even if the system has not been in operation for a longer period of time. The outcome of the project will be safer dam operations when redundant separate systems can fill the same vital function. Increased spillway capacity is expected to be necessary to implement due to climate change.