Refurbishment and uprating of hydro power plants-A literature review

Refurbishment and uprating of hydro power plants has become an important issue for power generation experts and the utilities because of perennial shortage of power and slow pace in new hydro power addition programmes. As a result, in the recent years there has been great deal of interest in refurbishment and uprating of hydro power plants (HPP) for effective utilization of water potential. The concern about the issue has resulted from the large number of power houses in India which have outlived their useful life or are not operating optimally due to inadequacies in design. Hence, refurbishment and uprating of hydro power plants is the need of the day. To accomplish such a task various aspects of refurbishment and uprating of hydro power plants need to be reviewed. The present paper focuses on the research activities and practical experience in the area of refurbishment and uprating of hydro power plants. This exhaustive review consisting of about 214 research papers, reports, guidelines and standards will be of great help to the researchers, hydro power utilities and energy policy planners.