energising hydro-turbine eco-technology Rainpower

energising hydro-turbine eco-technology

Rainpower is a leading independent energy group based in Norway and specialising in the manufacture of hydro-turbines and power plant modernisation services. The company is also a leading supplier of advanced control systems. Philip Yorke reports an ambitious company that is committed to the development of greener, more efficient hydro-power systems.

Rainpower’s heritage dates back to 1853 when the company was established in Lodalen, Norway as Kvaerner Energy, which started making turbines for hydro-power in the early 1890’s. However, it is a relatively young company that was formed in 2007 when General Electric sold its Norwegian hydropower operations to the Industrial conglomerate NLI. Today Rainpower supplies an extensive range of equipment for hydro-power plants that includes generators, valves and turbine governors.

Today, however, the company’s core business activities are focused on new product development, the manufacture of turbines and electro-mechanical solutions for the supply of renewable energy. In addition, it offers an unrivalled range of tailor-made customer services for the upgrading and modernisation of existing power plants, as well as for the maintenance of hydraulic power stations.

New generation turbines.

Recently Rainpower’s Storm turbines introduced a new type of Francis turbine for low and middle head operations ranging from 50 to 300 metres. This turbine has proven world class technology. The company has developed and tested several different models and offers market leading performance guarantees to its customers.

For turbines with a large head, Rainpower has unrivalled expertise in developing Francis turbines with whole and half blades, which are unique to Norway and to Rainpower. This turbine type is known for its ability to operate stably over a wide area with varying heads and water volumes. A new generation of Francis turbines for high heads called Hurricane has also been introduced with a substantially improved performance.

Rainpower’s Pelton turbines are designed for high heads and low water volume and are often used with heads above 300 meters and for small hydro. One particular advantage is the wide area of operation, making them particularly suitable for small power stations with variable flow. Rainpower is one of the world’s foremost suppliers of Pelton turbines, and delivers turbines with vertical as well as horizontal axles.

Furthermore, a few years ago Rainpower began developing a new generation of Pelton turbines, optimising all components with modern analysis tools, combined with extensive model testing. This latest generation of Pelton turbines offers unrivalled hydraulic performance.

Small-scale power solutions

Rainpower’s small-scale power solutions are essentially based on the company’s proprietary turbine technology with parameterised design

adapted to ideally suit smaller power plants. Since 2007, the company has implemented around 45 small-scale power projects comprising 53 turbines with an aggregate output of 323 MW. The company has also carried out important efficiency measurements of Francis and Pelton plants, the results of which exceed all specified guaranteed values.

For heads between 50 and 700 metres, Rainpower supplies one stage pump turbines which are custom-designed and engineered for each pumped storage station. Pump-stored hydropower is the only economic and flexible way to store large amounts of surplus energy today. This is set to become increasingly important with more and more uneven power sources operating in the national grid, such as wind and solar.

extensive laboratory facilities

Boosting efficiency and creating value is a vital part of Rainpower’s key operations and culture, with the objective of producing more power from the same amount of water. As a result, Rainpower is able to maintain its position as one of Europe’s most successful hydropower companies. What gives it a competitive edge is the fact that it offers the best available technology in the high head and medium head hydro turbine sector. In addition, the company has an enviable reputation that has been built up over many years by supplying products and services to some of the world’s biggest blue-chip clients. In order to develop its own turbines, the company relies on its extensive laboratory facilities and the best design tools in the market, which includes ‘element methodology’ and computational fluid dynamics that rely on the latest Ansys / Star software.

For other products in its portfolio, the company offers a broad platform for governing systems and monitoring systems for the lifetime analysis of turbines in the high-head area. These strengths have ensured that Rainpower’s unique capabilities keep it at the forefront of the global hydro-power industry.

Increasing global presence

Since 2007, the company has been focused on the development of more eco-friendly hydro-power technology, as well as on international expansion, and this strategy saw the founding of Rainpower China in 2008, Rainpower Sweden, Turkey and Peru in 2010 and Rainpower North America and Switzerland in 2011.

“The hydro market is like a circus, it moves around, so from 2008 until 2012 we saw a lot of projects in Latin America, Canada and Turkey,” Rainpower told Industry Europe. “After that, the market moved to South East Asia, Africa and of course the home market in Norway and Sweden. The key is to be where the projects are happening, however, the Norwegian market remains stable when it comes to upgrade projects, which is why we have maintained a good order intake in 2019, maintained revenues and also improved margins.”

Rainpower’s main area of expertise lies in the production and development of turbines through Norwegian technology. On top of this, its locations across the globe compete every day to be the most efficient provider of turbines. n For further details about Rainpower’s latest products and services visit: www.rainpower.no