History - Plzen

The Plzen factory was founded in 1859 by Count Waldstein. Emil Škoda acquired Waldstein´s factory in 1869. Emil Skoda

The first turbogenerator was manufactured in 1924 and first hydrogenerator a year later. As part of the large Škoda group, it supplied many of the generators and associated equipment required in the Eastern European markets. The factory underwent a major upgrade of facilities in 1950 with the construction of the "Gigant" workshop and construction of a heavy workshop "New Hall" in 1987.

FKI Energy Technology group acquired the former Škoda Elektrické stroje from the Škoda group in March 2001. To date more than 1300 turbogenerators and 245 hydrogenerators have been manufactured for customers in Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and Australia.

On 1 July 2008 Melrose completed the acquisition of FKI plc for a total consideration, including debt, of just under £1 billion. The three companies, BRUSH Electrical Machines Ltd, BRUSH HMA and BRUSH SEM now form BRUSH Turbogenerators.

The company has achieved the following milestones in production of generators:

Turbogenerators

  • 1924 first turboogenerator with output 14 MW (or 17.5MVA)
  • 1951 air cooled turbogenerator with output 50 MW (62.5 MVA)
  • 1959 first hydrogen cooled turbogenerator with output 100 MW (125 MVA)
  • 1966 first combined hydrogen and water cooled turbogenerator with output 200 MW (235 MVA)
  • 1977 combined cooled hydrogen and water cooled turbogenerator with output 500 MW (588 MVA)
  • 1994 combined cooled hydrogen and water cooled turbogenerator with output 1000 MW (1111 MVA)
  • 1999 air cooled turbogenerator with output 135 MW (169 MVA)

Hydrogenerators

  • 1925 first hydrogenerator with output 230 kVA at 500 rpm
  • 1953 hydrogenerator with output 30 MVA at 125 rpm
  • 1958 hydrogenerator with output 100 MVA at 188 rpm
  • 1976 hydrogenerator for pumped-storage plant with output 220 MVA at 375 rpm
  • 1996 the biggest hydrogenerator for pumped-storage plant with output 355.5 MVA at 429 rpm
  • 2002 signing of Co-operation Agreement between Voith-Siemens and BRUSH SEM for medium-sized hydrogenerators rated up to 150 MVA

BRUSH SEM also produces excitation systems for generators. The main milestones of excitation system production are as follows:

Excitation Systems

  • 1977 first analog excitation system (RBA type)
  • 1993 first digital excitation system of DCP type
  • 1999 first digital excitation system of MBS type
  • 2004 first digital excitation system of A50 type

The company´s activities in the future will include development, design, production, servicing and repairs of generators, excitation systems and their auxiliaries, servicing and repairs of AC and DC rotating machines.