Small hydro power

Siemens Energy has over 145 years of experience in hydro power.

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A smart way of solving environmental and economic challenges

The global climate change calls for new and more ecofriendly methods of power generation. At the same time, each power plant investment must pay itself off within a certain period of time. Using the enormous power of water - one of mankind’s oldest ideas for power conversion - can combine both ecofriendly and economic power generation. State-of-the-art, small hydro power plant technology from Siemens Energy helps to unleash this potential and enables a climate-neutral power generation to invest and operate competitively.

Siemens Energy has demonstrated its core competences in hydro power, in both water to wire solutions and plant modernizations, in more than 1,000 small hydro plants worldwide. Siemens Energy’s small hydro expertise ranges from engineering, supply, installation and commissioning to service. Small hydro power plants from Siemens Energy today supply more than 5,000 megawatts electrical power worldwide. We are the reliable partner for integrated and customized small hydro turnkey solutions.

What Siemens Energy can offer:

  • Water to wire solutions for small hydro power plants
  • Customized design and engineering according to individual needs
  • Modernization and service of existing plants with minimized production losses
  • Local support, maintenance, and service for highest availability
  • Highest degree of operational safety and efficiency for even the smallest plants
  • Digital solutions for the optimization of your plant/fleet e.g. by using Digital Twins

Digitalization

Siemens Energy povides a broad portfolio of digital solutions with tangible outcome, focused on generating units, power plants or entire power plant fleets.

These solutions increase transparency, avalability, operations management and plant performance.

Fleet solutions for example, can either be based on customers own IT infrastructure or supported by cloud-based open IoT operating systems. 

The Sipocon-H Optimizer, as another example, builts a Digital Twin of your single generating unit and supports you to optimize the unit operational setpoints. It can be used in new built and older power plants. But as a consequence, increased efficiency will ensure a higher income.   

Hybrid and storage solutions

Climate Change, increasing global energy demand and digitalization lead to new guiding principles for the energy market players. Siemens Energy’s Hybrid solutions are a way to address these new principles and co-create your decarbonized energy system for the transition into a more sustainable world. It covers the combination with existing assets, integration of renewables of all kinds and easy-made control of complex energy systems and enables our customers to integrate multiple technologies to one optimized energy system.
Available storage solutions, such as batteries, capacitors, mechanical & thermal storage systems are available and can be incorporated in the hybrid solutions as well.
This combination increases your flexibility and adaptation to the market needs.

New built and customized small hydro power plants

Siemens Energy provides comprehensive solutions for small hydro power plants up to 30 megawatt unit capacity. We customize each solution regarding design and equipment to reach the best solution for each client. Our scope of supply covers all necessary components of a plant such as turbines or valves, generators, transformers, all kind of switchgears, the control system and turbine governors, protection systems and all power plants auxiliary systems.

Hydro Power

Hydro Power

Modernizations and upgrades of existing small hydro power plants

Many small hydro power plants built in the early 20th century have either been shut down or are operating inefficiently due to high levels of required manpower and outdated technology. This does not have to be the case, as modernizations or upgrades often pay themselves off in only a few years. Siemens Energy can draw on decades of experience in modernizing small hydro power plants. We offer tailor-made solutions with minimal budget requirements by combining existing equipment with the latest, most efficient components. We utilize suitable parts and equipment to minimize your re-investment costs. Due to our short delivery times and high degree of operational safety, we can execute your plant upgrade very economically.

Comprehensive services for small hydro power plants

The electrical equipment of small hydro power plants is subject to numerous stresses during its operation time. This may have an impact on a reliable operation. Siemens Energy can assist you in testing your equipment in order to reduce the risk of unscheduled outages.

Dielectric standstill diagnostics for stator windings on generators

We offer comprehensive standstill diagnostics for all generator models. Possible damage to, for example the stator winding can be detected at an early stage based on the analyses, and measures can even be determined during the inspection. In the standard case, standstill diagnostics include partial discharge, loss factor and insulation current measurements. The test scope can be supplemented with high-voltage testing or other criteria as required.

Services on electrical equipment

Siemens Energy offers all related services on the electrical equipment of hydro power plants, for example

  • frequently testing and checking the protection system settings required by law
  • earthing resistance measurement
  • isolation resistance measurement

Hydro Power Service

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Small Hydro Power

145 years of experience in hydro power

Siemens Energy's first hydroelectric plant was already in operation in 1878. Our historical success stories highlight our extensive expertise in small hydro power.

Find out more about our solutions

Download your Brochure or our "Sipocon-H" flyer

Brochure “Comprehensive solutions”
PDF (1 MB)
Flyer “Small hydro solution Sipocon-H”
PDF (995 KB)
Flyer “Sipocon-H Optimizer”
PDF (188 KB)

Small hydro power solution highlights

As one of very few providers in the world, Siemens Energy has over 145 years of experience in hydro power. Learn more about some of our references worldwide.