Reivax North America was awarded the excitation system controls upgrade at Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Wheeler station
Reivax North America (REIVAX) is proud to continue our excellent relationship with TVA with the award of the controls upgrade of the Siemens EX-2 excitation system on unit #10 at the Wheeler Hydro station. This new award is the direct result of REIVAX successful controls upgrade of the Siemens EX-2 excitation system on Unit #11 at Wheeler Hydro station in 2018.
The obsolescence of Siemens EX-2 control components was the main driver for the upgrade, but unit 10 also had experienced reliability issues of the existing thyristor converter.
The existing excitation equipment is installed in an outdoor e-house, severely limiting the accessibility to remove and replace old equipment. As such, a complete replacement of the static excitation system would have involved removing the roof of the e-house, which would have been a challenging effort. To alleviate these concerns, REIVAX proposed a drop-in replacement thyristor bridge in place of the original Siemens thyristor bridge. The new thyristor bridge and control panel was able to fit through the man door of the e-house. The existing cubicles with AC breaker, crowbar, field flashing and bus bars were all re-used.
TVA’s Wheeler dam is located in Alabama spanning across the Tennessee River. The total generation capacity of the plant is 402 MW with unit 10 capable of generating 48.5 MVA.
The REIVAX intuitive 15” local HMI panel allows TVA to take full advantage of the improved diagnostic features that will aid future maintenance of the system.
REIVAX flexible high performance RTX POWER excitation controller has been the product of choice for many customers when retrofitting an aging ABB UNITROL, Basler, Siemens, GE or other excitation OEM equipment.
REIVAX will be delivering the Wheeler #10 excitation system upgrade in 2020.
If you would like more information please check our our latest case studies and learn more about what solutions we can provide for: excitation systems, digital governors and combined systems.