EDP hydroelectric power plant awarded two international awards | EDP Portugal

The power upgrade of the Venda Nova III hydroelectric power plant, now known as Frades II, was once again honored with a prestigious international award. VGB PowerTech - International Technical Association for Generation and Storage of Power and Heat - has awarded this plant the "VGB Quality Award 2018", which recognizes high quality projects worldwide. The prize awarded to EDP and the consortium Voith Hydro and Siemens Portugal, which supplied the equipment, was delivered in Munich on September 12th during the opening session of the VGB annual congress.

In addition to the technical complexity, which implied an underground development in a location very close to the power reinforcement of Frades I, the project of Frades II also stands out for the high power of the installed machines and the technological innovation that they represent, in this case the variable speed of asynchronous machines, which were fundamental to the distinctions attributed to EDP. This is the only power plant in the Iberian Peninsula, and one of the few in Europe, equipped with variable speed groups instead of conventional synchronous machines. This type of groups (2 units x 420 MVA) are the most powerful in Europe and some of the largest in the world.

These innovative features and the importance of this renewable energy plant for the national electricity system were, among other things, also valued by the specialized magazine Power Magazine, which awarded the "Top Plant 2018 - Renewables" to Frades II. The initiative distinguishes the most innovative plants every year, either for their design or their engineering, and which translate into greater reliability and profitability when compared to similar plants.

The magazine of this month dedicates two pages to the project of Frades II, highlighting the complexity and the advantages of this project. This project will also be presented at the "ELECTRIC POWER + Exhibition" conference, which will take place in April 2019 in the United States and where the prize will be awarded to EDP. 

The Frades II plant, which is part of the Cávado-Lima Production Center, produces, on average, 1440 GWh annually and avoids 1000 kt of CO2 emissions per year. The project for the construction of Frades II began in 2010 and it was fully operational in 2017, the year in which the Ricardo Esquivel Teixeira Duarte Award was awarded by the Portuguese Geotechnical Society. 

This plant contributes to the rapid stability and safety of the electricity grid significantly and to the expansion of renewable energy production in Portugal.