Xylem recently announced that it has won a contract worth U.S. $19.6 million to provide custom-made Flygt pumps for a fish passage project on the Xayaburi hydropower dam. The project will be Xylem’s largest in the ASEAN region to-date.
The dam is located on the Mekong River in the town of Xayaburi, 80 kilometers south of Luang Prabang in Laos. The construction of the dam allows water to be kept within the river’s course and minimally raises the water level to allow fish migration between the Upper and Lower Mekong, while providing electricity to about 1 million people in Laos and 3 million people in Thailand.
Several independent fish passing facilities are included in the design of the dam to accommodate the more than 200 species of fish that inhabit the dam site for spawning and/or dry-season refuge. Xylem’s Flygt AC series customized column pumps have been designed to match the specified pump configuration, hydraulic and materials requirements, to be used to help facilitate fish migration through or around the hydroelectric power dam structure and mitigate the ecological impact.
“Xylem has more than 140 years of engineering expertise with the Flygt brand and has designed and manufactured some of the world’s largest pumps with high pump efficiencies,” says Allan Hendry, vice president and regional director for Xylem Greater Asia. “The collaboration between the Xylem team, local subcontractors and project consultants, coupled with the customized design of our large Flygt pumps, were key success factors in securing this contract.”
Construction of the U.S. $3.5 billion hydropower dam began in 2012. Commercial operation is slated to begin in 2019.