Voith Hydro has set a new benchmark at the Gerlos 1 power plant, having the first horizontal, six-nozzle Pelton turbine.

Thanks to the new concept at the Gerlos 1 pumped storage power plant in Tyrol, energy utility Verbund has replaced the plant’s existing four turbines with one. Until now, Pelton turbines with more than three nozzles have always been designed with a vertical shaft.

The main reason for this was that it allowed higher efficiency than a horizontal arrangement. Voith Hydro has now successfully eliminated this drawback, as demonstrated in the Gerlos 1 power plant, where for the first time, an efficiency level comparable to that of the vertical configuration has been achieved.

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