Hydro

Economics Could Bring Early Closure for Slovenia Coal-Fired Plant. Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob in May said the Termoelektrana Šoštanj (TEŠ) facility, the country’s only remaining coal-fired

Proven results across 120 GW+ of renewable energy operations in over 40 countries Yokogawa Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6841) announces that it has acquired BaxEnergy, a leading provider of renewable energy management solutions (REMS). This acquisition will provide Yokogawa with a proven range of solutions that have already been adopted by major power companies throughout Europe. […]

A pumped storage project in Kentucky is being touted as a model example of how land that once was the site of a coal mine can be repurposed for a renewable energy installation. The Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage Project, a closed-loop, 287-MW hydropower facility, is being constructed at a site where coal was mined beginning […]

A UK- based global research group said continued growth in wind and solar power increased power generation from renewable energy to nearly a third of worldwide electricity output last year. Ember, a think tank headquartered in London, in its “Global Electricity Review 2024” released May 8 wrote that the numbers show a goal to triple […]

The first unit of one of the world’s highest-elevation hydropower plants began operating in China in April. China Energy said the Maerdang hydropower station (Figure 5), sited at more than 16,000 feet above

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) represents the largest incentive effort for clean energy in U.S. history. Its impact touches multiple sectors, including solar, wind, hydrogen, energy storage, and more. The IRA includes more than 70 investment, production, and excise credits designed to facilitate the transition to cleaner energy production. The legislation promotes advanced manufacturing, and […]

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) will partner with GE Vernova to complete a 15-year project to refurbish the iconic 1.7-GW Sir Adam Beck I and II hydroelectric complex near Niagara Falls. The C$1 billion ($724 million) project unveiled on April 16 will comprise the first phase of OPG’s larger plans to overhaul all five of its […]

In a time where capacity revenues are pricing lower and many generation owners find that their facilities are not being dispatched for energy on a consistent basis, reliable revenue streams are increasingly important. In addition to selling energy and capacity, many generation facilities collect fixed, monthly payments for the provision of “reactive power,” which are […]

Turbines are by far the single most-costly piece of equipment for many energy businesses, which highlights the importance of lubrication for these assets. Although turbine oil could last for more than a

Dominion Secures Final Approvals for 2.6-GW Offshore Wind Project. Dominion Energy on Jan. 30 said it received the last two major federal approvals needed to kick off construction of its 2.6-GW Coastal

Collaboration was the main success factor in the deployment of an all-carrier enterprise distributed antenna system (DAS) for a Midwest power plant. The Problem A power plant in the Midwestern U.S. (Figure 1) faced a formidable situation: The obsolescence of 3G cellular technology meant that the plant soon would lose its already unreliable cellular coverage, […]

Azerbaijan’s First Utility-Scale Solar Project Online. Officials in Azerbaijan in November announced the country’s first and largest utility-scale solar photovoltaic power plant is now operating. The

Life cycle analysis or assessments (LCAs) are a quintessential tool for power and utility industry professionals and tradespeople. They determine the environmental and financial value of new technologies. Consumer products get the most attention, but LCAs for renewable energy systems (Figure 1) should be discussed more. It is time to synthesize known information to create […]

Work continues on what would be the largest hydropower project in Angola, a $5.2 billion run-of-river power station that Angolan officials have said could come online as early as 2026. Technology group Voith on Dec. 19 said it is supplying all the electrical and mechanical equipment for the Caculo Cabaca facility, located in the midstream […]

The U.S. conventional hydropower fleet includes 2,252 hydropower plants with a total generating capacity of 80.58 GW, which produced 6.2% of the country’s electricity in 2022 and nearly 30% of all renewable generation. In addition, it has 43 pumped-storage hydro (PSH) plants, a combined capacity of 22 GW, and an estimated energy storage capacity of 553 […]

Kenya Set to Expand Hydropower Project. Kenya Electricity Generating Co. (KenGen) said it received approval from government officials to move forward with the Gogo hydropower redevelopment project. The Gogo

For many years, the National Hydropower Association has designated August 24 as National Hydropower Day in the U.S. In honor of the occasion, POWER is highlighting a variety of things many people may not know about hydropower. 1. The First Electricity Generated in the U.S. by Hydropower Was in 1880 People have been using water […]

The Lijiaxia Hydropower Station No. 5, one of the world’s biggest hydropower plants in a dual-row turbine layout, completed its 72-hour trial run and became officially operational on Oct. 10. Completion of

Extreme temperature and weather events have become more prevalent in the past decade. The December 2022 Christmas freeze in the southeast U.S. saw many areas experiencing single-digit temperatures. The February 2021 Texas freeze saw temperatures in Dallas reach as low as –2F. Meanwhile, the January–February 2019 Midwest Arctic Polar Vortex saw temperatures plunge as low […]

Salt River Project (SRP) has become one of the first U.S. utilities to shift from an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) to an Integrated System Plan (ISP), a “holistic roadmap” that takes into account evolving power system needs, energy affordability, and carbon reduction goals. The pioneering move by the public power entity that provides power and […]

Providing employees with a safe and healthy workplace is paramount. Never dismiss persistent workplace environmental complaints, no matter how “crazy” they may seem. A lone SUV motored through wooded hills

Officials in Angola announced that the Laúca hydroelectric power station is now fully operational, with Austrian company Andritz wrapping construction of the final 70-MW environmental flow power station at the site on the Kwanza River. Andritz built and installed all the units at the 2,070-MW plant, located on the border between the Angolan provinces of […]

Voith Hydro in 2022 replaced four vertical Pelton turbines at Verbund’s 75-year-old 326-GWh Gerlos 1 pumped storage facility in Austria with a first-of-its-kind horizontal six-nozzle Pelton turbine

The hydropower industry has placed a keen focus on sustainability in recent years. “The San José Declaration on Sustainable Hydropower,” a landmark declaration issued on Sept. 24, 2021, by the hydropower

Indian USC Coal Plant, First Transnational Power Project, Begins Operation. Indian independent power producer Adani Power on July 12 began full commercial operation of the coal-fired 1,600-MW Godda Ultra

Kenya’s government is pinning a nationwide blackout on Aug. 25 to the loss of 270 MW from the 310-MW Lake Turkana Wind Power Plant (LTWP), though the wind generator has denied it was the cause. The blackout, which lasted more than 20 hours, began at about 9:45 p.m. on Friday, plunging the East African country’s […]

The North American Reliability Corporation (NERC) will for the first time consider “energy policy” among five significant evolving and interdependent risks to grid reliability. In its latest biennial ERO Reliability Risk Priorities Report, the designated North American Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) identifies energy policy as a new risk priority alongside grid transformation, resilience to extreme […]

Record-high river levels stemming from Storm Hans, a storm that battered southern Norway this week, have partially destroyed a dam on the Glåma River and inundated Hafslund Eco’s Braskereidfoss hydroelectric power plant. After days of heavy rain stemming from the powerful storm, which triggered widespread flooding and landslides, the two units at the 40-MW Braskereidfoss […]

Colombian Dam Site of Major Floating Solar Project. A new solar power system that will float on the reservoir at the Urrá Dam in Colombia is designed to demonstrate that hydroelectric stations dealing with

South Africa is in the midst of an energy crisis characterized by electricity shortages, blackouts, and lack of new infrastructure investment. Eskom, the state-owned utility supplying more than 90% of the nation’s electricity, has suffered from operational failures, maintenance issues, and breakdowns at aging, poorly maintained power stations, leading to steady declines in the energy […]