112-Year-Old Hydro Plant Gets Modern Makeover

Brookefield Renewable Power is restoring the old hydroelectric plant at Glen Ferris.

The State Journal
15 June 2011
By Jim Ross

GLEN FERRIS -- For more than a hundred years, water from the Kanawha River flowed through generators at Glen Ferris, providing electricity for nearby industry.

In 2005, those generators went silent. Later this year and early next year, they will turn again, providing renewable power for the region,

Brookfield Renewable Power, a Canadian company, acquired the old Elkem Metals power plant in Fayette County in 2006, a year after it ceased production following 106 years in service. The plant is small by many standards, with eight turbines producing a total of 5.45 megawatts, enough to power about 4,500 homes.

The Glen Ferris plant consists of two buildings. The older one, on the northern shore, was built in the mid- to late-19th century. It contains six small turbines. The newer one, with two larger generators, was built in 1917.

Brookfield is investing $25 million to retrofit the old plant with new machinery. Work began last year and is expected to be finished sometime next year.

To avoid time-consuming problems with applying for permits that would be necessary to remove the old buildings and put in new ones, Brookfield decided to use the old buildings, the dam and the draft tubes. The buildings were stripped of their old machinery and electrical wiring. The older one received a new roof. A new access bridge was built. New transformers, generator breakers and controls are being installed.

It's a blending of old technology with new.

As with many hydroelectric projects that are built at existing dams or, in this case, involve retrofitting and older project, engineers use what is available and try to avoid changing the basic structures already in place, said David Barnhart, general manager of Mid-America operations for Brookfield.

"All these interfaces are engineering challenges," Barnhart said. "We re-use as much as possible."

At present, the turbines are being rebuilt in Michigan. The larger ones should be re-installed and generating electricity in December. The smaller units should go back on line next year, Barnhart said.

While the old plant supplied electricity for specific industrial operations in the Glen Ferris area, the new one will send its power into the regional American Electric Power grid, Barnhart said. Power lines will transmit electricity to AEP's nearby Kanawha River power plant, where it will go into the grid, he said.

When the retrofitting is finished, the Glen Ferris power plant operation will be controlled by a central control center near Boston. The Montgomery office looks after the maintenance needs of the Glen Ferris and Hawks Nest hydroelectric plants along with one plant in Maryland, one in Pennsylvania and two in Minnesota.

White & Reader Associates of Central Square, N.Y., is overseeing the rebuilding. Ed White, president of White & Reader, said he admires the engineering that went into the original plant.

"Either you like the old girls or you don't. I like the older plants," he said.