Hydro

Large and small hydropower, hydrokinetic, and ocean power projects and technologies

Currant Creek Power Plant, Mona, Utah
Currant Creek Power Plant, Mona, Utah

When Des Moines–based Mid-American completed the purchase of PacifiCorp from ScottishPower in late March of this year, one of its prizes was the new, natural gas–fired 525-MW Currant Creek Power…



Kannagawa Hydropower Plant, Japan
Kannagawa Hydropower Plant, Japan

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO)—the world's largest private power company—traces its roots to the illumination of a lecture hall by an electric arc lamp at Tokyo's Institute of Technology on…


NYPA Astoria Project, Astoria, New York
NYPA Astoria Project, Astoria, New York

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) was created by then-Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New York State Legislature in 1931 to develop the hydropower resources of the St. Lawrence…


A breakthrough in hydroturbine design
A breakthrough in hydroturbine design

PLANT SIMULATION A breakthrough in hydroturbine design One of the distinguishing characteristics of deregulated power markets is variable demand. The ability to operate efficiently at partial loads can determine whether a…


Peru commissions hydro plant
Peru commissions hydro plant

The 130-MW Yuncán  hydroelectric plant (Figure 4) has come online in Peru about 210 miles northeast of Lima. To show his support for the project, Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo Manrique…


Nowhere to go but up  
Nowhere to go but up
 

Often, the best way to deliver a piece of bad news is to come right out and say it: 2004 was a bust year for the renewable energy industry. Sure,…


Big batteries blooming
Big batteries blooming

All interconnected transmission and distribution (T&D) grids have one thing in common: Their operators must continually dispatch generators to keep the network's supply and demand in balance at all times…


Roadmap for the all-electric warship

The United States Navy's interest in electric propulsion dates back to the launching of the 19,360-ton USS Jupiter (Figure 1) in August 1912. The Jupiter had a prototype electric propulsion…


A new player in backup power
A new player in backup power

There are many different types of fuel cells, and each has characteristics that make it more suitable than others for certain applications. For example, because molten carbonate fuel cells operate…


Renewable energy’s growing share
Renewable energy’s growing share

  Renewable power development will continue to grow in the U.S., with the nonhydro total reaching 53,121 MW by the end of 2016. So predicts a soon-to-be-released report from Boulder,…