CEA Issues Norms For Field Efficiency Tests For Pumped Storage Projects 

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The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has issued fresh guidelines for the field efficiency tests in hydropower plants and pumped hydro storage projects to bring uniformity in the sector and to avoid disputes. The new norms define the testing agency, its role, and the standards to be used in such testing. 

The new norms are applicable to projects above 5 MW. Photo by-Freepik

“This…is to provide a uniform approach for carrying out said tests, its acceptance and to minimize dispute between Project Authority & the Supplier of the units in the project,” the government document read. It said these norms would apply to any size and type of unit projects above 5 Megawatt (MW).

The guidelines mainly focused on defining the terms and quantities to be used in the process, validity, the period for acceptance of the test, the agency to perform the test, to specify methods & ways of measuring quantities involved to ascertain the Hydraulic/ Electrical Efficiency of the units and determination of fulfillment of contract guarantees and penalization in case of failure of its fulfillment.

The new norms said that the field efficiency acceptance tests of the pumped hydro project’s generator, motor and hydraulic turbine would strictly adhere to applicable IEC/IS standards. It also said that the purchaser should be responsible for specifying the values of all the parameters on which the field efficiency guarantees are based. It included the water quality and temperature, specific hydraulic energies of the plant and specific hydraulic energy losses, the machine’s correct inlet and outlet conditions and others. 

The norms also clarified who would be responsible for conducting such tests. It said, “The Test shall be carried out/ witnessed preferably by experienced Third Party agencies and in cases where such agencies are unavailable, the Test may be carried out either by OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or the Purchaser himself.”

It also said that the Field Efficiency Test should not take place until the commissioning test, including speed and pressure variation trials, are conducted. It has also specified the formulas to check the efficiency of the turbines, generating units, and other parameters and modalities in detail to bring uniformity in the testing methods for pumped hydro projects and hydro projects.