The runaway speed of a hydraulic turbine is the speed at which
the turbine coupled to the generator runs at the maximum possible
speed due to loss of load and this happens until the shut off
valves completely closes the discharge from the penstock.
the runaway speed of the turbine is determined by the turbine
designer and is influenced by the maximum discharge of water from
the penstock, the combined inertia of the turbine runner and the
generator and the flywheel.
this factor can vary from 1.5 up to 3 times the nominal speed of
the turbine and is determined by the turbine designer considering
all the load parameters.