Advanced reconstruction for Berte Qvarn HEPP
A unique project of its kind. When Berte Qvarn was given resource consent to move its power station downstream, a completely new turbine was built for the purpose. With respect for ecology, the turbine provides optimal efficiency from the varied water flow of the Suse River.
In Halland, just south of Falkenberg, lies the venerable Berte Qvarn, whose logo generations of Swedes have come to recognise through the classic flour bags. The family business is now run by the thirteenth generation of master millers in a direct line of descent and is investing heavily for the future.
Sustainability in focus
Since the 16th century, the mill has been powered by energy from the water of the Suse River. For a long time, the mechanical energy was used directly on site, but today the turbine delivers the energy to the electricity grid. In order to secure and improve the efficiency of the mill’s turbine plant, it has been decided to move the power station downstream to utilise the power using higher head.
For the turbine, generator and control system delivery, Berte Qvarn chose to cooperate with TURAB.
“Moving a power station is a delicate job that requires great environmental consideration. We are proud to have been entrusted with it. We understand that the choice of TURAB was based on both our extensive technical expertise and our commitment to sustainability issues,” says TURAB’s CEO Åse Esselius.
New passage for fish
The project has been running for two years and the turbine has been in operation for some time.
“It has been a fantastic fun and challenging project – it is quite unusual in Sweden to get resource consent to build a completely new power plant. We have managed to build a Kaplan turbine with good performance at variating head and flow. TURAB have been responsible for the turbine, generator and control system, but the project also includes a completely new penstock from the intake down to the new power house and the construction of a beautiful wildlife passage,” says Åse Esselius.
The turbine design and manufacturing itself has required TURAB’s collective expertise and professional skills.
“The Suse River is a bit tricky because it has quite a varied water flow. We have managed to build
Eight cubic metres per second
For the calendar biter, we can tell that the generator power is 463 kW with a speed of 333,3 rpm and the turbine runner diameter is 1250 mm. The penstock is 57 metres long with a diameter of 2.2 m. The head is 7 m and maximum discharge is 8 cubic metres per second.