HYDRO

DESCRIPTION
Hydropower is the most widely used renewable energy source available today, and expecting to grow in the next years, thanks to user-friendly technological innovations providing increased efficiency.
Performance, reliability and the best cost/income ratio, are our Key points.
Our plants work to maximize the energy production, and to reduce the costs for the maintenance.
With our solutions we converted into the hydroelectric industry the concept developed in years of experience in the industry field: “to minimize the mechanical components and to move the regulation part on the electronic part”.
The speed system made of AFE+inverter, controls the speed and the torque of the generator. This reduces the mechanical stress, extends the lifetime of the system and increases the productivity. Thanks to this technology, with a dedicated software, it is possible to work in a wide range of head/flow.
In different sites where the traditional fixed-speed turbine wouldn’t be able to satisfy these requirements, the variable speed solution made it possible.
The technology is applicable to all types of existing hydraulic machines, from the traditional Pelton, Francis and Kaplan up to the screws.

Thanks to BDF Digital’s know-how and experience in the control of the electric motors for the industrial automation, we are able to control every kind of generator with or without positioning sensor:

  • “Direct drive” permanent magnet synchronous generators up to 160 poles
  • Traditional or vector asynchronous generators
  • Hybrid reluctance generators

For a better efficiency of the hydroelectric plant in particular working stages, we developed a software called STARTER/BY PASS that allows to disconnect the generator from the electronic part while operating at 50Hz rated rpm, and to connect the machine directly in parallel to the electric network, reducing the losses while operating and cancelling the inrush currents during the start-up.