Costa Rican Chucas Hydropower Station integrated with power grid

Two units of the Costa Rican Chucas Hydropower Station, which was built by Sinohydro Bureau 11 Co., Ltd., were successfully integrated with the power grid on Oct 8. The units operate smoothly with load, and the temperature of bearing bush, vibration and swing of various parts meet design requirements. This has helped to establish a good corporate image for the company.

As the first cooperative project between China and Costa Rica involving hydropower, it is also the first contract secured by POWERCHINA in Latin America through competitive bidding. The participating staff made active efforts to overcome the language barrier, cultural differences, as well as differences in standards and specifications. They strived to adapt to the local legal system, improve the localized management, enhance HSE management capabilities, properly handle contract management, and control all types of construction risks, thereby ensuring the orderly progress of construction and production. The first unit was installed in November 2015, and the installation of the second unit was completed in February 2016. Water-free debugging and acceptance of the two units were completed on May 30. In September, the impoundment target of the dam was completed.

In order to ensure the safe start of the unit, the project department, in accordance with the concepts of honesty, safety, and standardization for compliance of contract, painstakingly set up the debugging team, made plans ahead of time, and arranged the water debugging tasks for each person in charge. The department actively communicated with the project owner and local power grid company to successfully complete the water filling test of water diversion pressure pipes, laying a foundation for the smooth initiation of the two units.

Chucas Hydropower Station, situated on Tagus River, 40 kilometers south of Costa Rica’s capital San José, is a water diversion type ground power plant. The project includes diversion tunnels, intake towers for power generation, civil engineering of the plant and mechanical and electrical equipment installation, and a switch station. The total installed capacity is 2×25 MW.

Now that the two units have been integrated with the power grid, the project team will carry out grid-related electrical testing to complete the full load power generation operation and eliminate defects, ensuring that the project is successfully delivered and put into commercial operation.