Hydro

AES Corp. will retire four coal-fired power plants—a total 1,097 MW—in Chile “as soon as” January 2025 if supported by grid requirements under an agreement the Virginia-headquartered company signed with the Chilean government on July 6. The coal closures, which are outlined in what AES described as a “voluntary” retirement plan, represent the “single largest […]

Despite continued pressure from Egypt and Sudan, Ethiopia will push ahead on the second-year filling of the 6.4-GW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) reservoir this summer with ambitions to begin operating two of its 16 planned turbines later this year.  Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen, who also serves as the East African nation’s deputy prime […]

Uzbekistan Wind Farm Project Expanding. Masdar, a global renewable energy company, has signed an agreement with Uzbekistan’s government to extend the capacity of its utility-scale wind farm project in the

Cat Creek Energy, developer of a 1.1-GW “tribrid” renewable power and water storage project planned near Mountain Home, Idaho, has picked Voith Hydro to design and manufacture equipment for the project’s 720-MW ternary pumped storage component.  The development announced on April 29 marks a major milestone for the Cat Creek Energy and Water (CCEW) project. […]

The European Union’s (EU’s) much-watched Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act—the world’s first “green list”—unveiled by the European Commission (EC) on April 21 qualifies several power-producing sectors in its technical screening criteria for sustainable investment decisions. However, it delays controversial decisions on gas and nuclear.  The EC adopted the Delegated Act as part of an ambitious package […]

Significant engineering goes into every hydropower facility. Among the items that require detailed design work are draft tubes, which are basically conical diffusers installed at the outlet of turbine runners

A sweeping climate proposal introduced by U.S. House Democrats on March 2 sets a stringent clean energy electricity mandate for power retailers nationwide, requiring they procure 100% of their power supplies from zero-emitting generation by 2035.  Among its slew of measures aimed at achieving net-zero emissions nationwide by 2050, the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action […]