IMPSA’s commitment to energy efficiency is one of the pillars of its environmental care policy and is framed within the actions related to its Sustainability Program CSER (Corporate Social Environmental Responsibility Program). In this sense, its Technological Research Center (CIT) located in Godoy Cruz – Mendoza, has a Hydraulics Laboratory, unique in Latin America, which among its processes performs a key task within the framework of efficient energy management.
This laboratory, where small-scale models of all types of hydraulic turbines are tested, is essential both to develop proprietary technology for these turbines, and to verify their performance guarantees for customers. It also consists of two test benches, each one with two powerful main pumps, and a series of pumps and auxiliary equipment that circulate water through the bench, which allows simulating the conditions of a hydroelectric power plant and motorizing the turbine models.
In this context, the tasks carried out in the Hydraulic Laboratory have a double impact on energy. On the one hand, the pumps and equipment have a high level of energy consumption, to the point that it constitutes the largest source of consumption of the entire ILC. On the other hand, the turbine models tested in the laboratory generate electricity.
With this, and as part of its energy efficiency actions, IMPSA has implemented a system that allows injecting the electrical energy generated by the turbine models into the same electrical grid to which the pumps are connected, which contributes in part to counteract the high consumption and considerably reduce the total electrical energy consumption of the CIT.