GE tapped to replace turbines at 500-MW pumped hydro plant in Poland

GE Renewable Energy has been awarded a contract by PGE Odnawialna SA to replace the four 125-MW pumped turbines and generators of the 500-MW Porabka Zar, Poland’s second-largest pumped hydro storage power plant.

PGE Odnawialna SA is a subsidiary of PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna SA.

GE will replace the existing turbines that are more than 40 years old with new high-efficiency pumped turbines and motor generators.

According to Pascal Radue, president, and chief executive of GE’s Hydro Solutions, the new equipment will help increase the flexibility and reliability of the plant and consequently stabilize the grid in the country.

GE Hydro Solutions will design, produce, and provide the new equipment in addition to the excitation and control systems. Additionally, it will oversee the construction and startup of the new units. In addition, GE Hydro Solutions will also replace the facility's stay rings and stay vanes with new ones that were created specifically for Porabka Zar as part of the restoration project.

The turbines are expected to start operating in 2028.