Spillway grounding of hydroelectric dam

[Paykon]

Hi there,

Does anyone have experience on designing gronding for spillway grounding of hydroelectric dam? I would like to have your comments on that?
Peter

 

[Paykon]

Do you recommend a separate grounding grid design system for the spillway or connect it to the hydroelectric station ground grid? The generator in the hydroelectric dam is connected by a high resistance to the grid and the fault current is limited. But if there is a fault at the line connected to the station when water flowing through spillway it acts as a zero potential path and creates a good return path for the fault at the line. Any recommendation?

 

[Marmite]

I've no direct experience of this in respect of hydro stations, but one concern I would have is the possibility of dangerous touch or step potentials under fault conditions if the grounding systems are separate. The fact that the spillway grounding creates a good ground return path, by implication much better than without, suggests that this may be an issue.
Regards
Marmite

 

[cranky108]

Would grounding the spillway cause some issues with the other plant pipeing?