J‑POWER turbine upgrade lifts Nanairo hydro to 85,800kW

Output rose by 3,800 kW at the 61-year-old facility without increasing water intake.

Japan’s Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (J-POWER) has increased output at the Nanairo Hydroelectric Power Station in Wakayama Prefecture to 85,800 kilowatts (kW) from 82,000 kW, following the replacement of the plant’s turbine runner.

J-POWER said in a statement that it installed a new turbine runner with an optimised blade shape developed using computer simulation of three-dimensional water flow inside the turbine.

The upgrade improved energy conversion efficiency and enabled a 3,800-kW increase in output without changes to permitted water usage conditions, including turbine head and maximum water intake of 140 cubic metres per second.

The station is located at Nanairo Dam in Kitayama Village, Higashimuro District, Wakayama Prefecture.

The dam measures 200.8 metres in length and 60 metres in height, and the facility began operation in July 1965.