PROJECT: Ione Hydro; Amador Water Agency

Laminar Energy Services, Inc. was selected as the contractor to conduct extensive startup testing and final commissioning of a new 500 kW Pelton wheel hydroelectric facility. By the time we were first onsite, the facility had completed construction and the majority of the PLC controls and remote SCADA system had been loop checked.

Due to the fact that the turbine manufacturer, Gilkes, was unable to support startup due to travel restrictions resulting from COVID, we were tasked with the development and implementation of all remaining startup testing and commissioning activities. This required us to quickly come up to speed on the mechanical, electrical, and control system designs so that a complete functional test plan was created and executed.

We became the overall expert process engineering team successfully taking the unit to full capacity without any safety nor environmental incidents all within a minimal amount of time. In addition, we wrote a detailed and illustrated Operational Procedure for the client's personnel.