Refurbishment of the Santiago Urumea Hydroelectric Power Plant (Basque Country)

Find out about Iberdrola España's project to comprehensively refurbish the Santiago Urumea Hydroelectric Power Plant in Gipuzkoa

The Santiago Urumea Hydroelectric Power Plant project in Gipuzkoa (Basque Country) is funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU under Spain's Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, through the first Circular Repowering call for proposals. This programme provides investment support for the repowering of wind farms, the technological and environmental upgrading of small hydroelectric power plants (≤10 MW) and innovative wind turbine blade recycling facilities.

Interior of a hydroelectric power plant with turbine and electric generator

Santiago Urumea Hydroelectric Power Plant

Location

Hernani (Guipúzcoa)

Planned installed capacity

1,14 MW

Year commissioned

1900

The project involves a significant investment in the comprehensive refurbishment of the existing 1.14 megawatts Santiago Urumea hydroelectric power station. The work consists of refurbishing the facility with the aim of maximising the reliability and service life of the power station's equipment and improving the performance of the existing turbines, carried out by Iberdrola Renovables Energía, the parent company of Iberdrola España's business operations.

The work carried out has consisted of the comprehensive refurbishment of Unit III, including the replacement of the generator, as well as the comprehensive refurbishment of Unit I for flow rates below the technical minimum operating level of Unit III and the renewal of all the plant's main equipment. To this end, the following work has been carried out:

Comprehensive refurbishment of Units I and III.
Installation of a new generator in Unit III, optimising the unit for the efficient use of the concessionary flow rate (5,800 litres per second).
Renewal of the control systems to optimise the plant's operation with the new and refurbished components.
New switchgear, voltage regulators, low-voltage switchboard and a new hydraulic power unit.
Installation of electrical equipment necessary for the proper operation of the plant, such as electrical cabling in PVC trays and switchgear, control and protection panels.