Can Hydropower Deliver?
It's about jobs, emissions
Ken Silverstein | Sep 13, 2011
Source - Energy Biz
If jobs are the Obama administration’s first priority then one of its early stops is at the gates of the hydropower sector. There, two federal agencies have announced $17 million in funding over three years for research and development to advance the renewable energy source.
Hydropower has an edge. It is clean and the technologies to improve performance exist. But if it is to expand its national footprint, though, its advocates must emphasize their commitment to sustainability before they raise funds or endorse new legislation. With that in mind, the industry says that it stands ready to deliver.
“Developing hydropower resources can create jobs and bolster the U.S. manufacturing supply chain,” says Linda Church Ciocci, executive director of the National Hydropower Association. “An available, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy source, the industry now employs as many as 300,000 workers. With the right policies in place, hydropower could expand that workforce to more than one million cumulative jobs by 2025.”
Globally, the hydropower market is worth $56.5 billion a year, says a report by business information provider Visiongain. That translates into a 19 percent market share. In the United States, the figure is between 7-9 percent, or roughly 100,000 megawatts. The hydropower association says that this country can do better and raise that by 30,000-60,000 megawatts over 15 years.
Where will it come from? The conventional way to produce hydroelectricity is through dams. But the amount of power is contingent upon the speed of the water that turns the turbines. Dams can increase the velocity by raising the water level. But they leave big footprints and can cause local populations to disperse. Investors, meantime, are skeptical because the permitting process is slow and costly.
Perhaps the most fruitful activity will come from those smaller so-called run-of-the-river facilities. They generate power by redirecting the river's flow using distributed hydropower units that include underwater watermills. While such technology is dependent on stream flow and access to power lines, it does not require the construction of dams that block water and kill off aquatic life.
Favorable Policies
Indeed, several hundred permits are now pending with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), with many of those being granted preliminary approval. Most of those would be run-of-the-river units.
“Even with the practical limitations of run-of-the-river hydroelectric generation, the technology proves to be more reliable and efficient than both wind and solar, especially in the Midwest,” writes Marc Gerken, chief executive of American Municipal Power in Ohio. “Run-of-the-river hydroelectric projects — projects using the energy of water flowing over existing dams — achieve capacity factors of 55-60 percent.”
The company, along with its partners, is now constructing four hydroelectric projects at existing dams on the Ohio River, Gerken adds. It has also just been granted FERC approval to build a fifth site. Altogether, the 129-member municipal entity will own and operate about 400 megawatts.
The administration is focusing its efforts on improving both run-of-the-river technologies as well as the reservoirs that may use pumped storage that releases the water to create electricity when it is most needed. That increases reliability.
Beyond improving the technologies that generate hydropower, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of the Interior want better environmental performance. That is, hydropower is sharply criticized for damaging aquatic and wildlife habitats, which has prevented the growth of the sector.
“By improving and deploying advanced hydropower technologies, we can maximize our use of this proven clean energy resource, create jobs, and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels,” says Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “Hydropower can be used to store energy to help utilities better integrate other sources of renewable energy like wind and solar into the grid.”
The administration says that hydropower can play a major role in helping the country generate 80 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2035. But the hydro association says that favorable legislation is needed, notably tax parity with other green sources. Currently, hydro developers receive about half the tax credit given to wind and solar developers.
Hydro operators are ready to step up. In the Northwest where most such power is generated, developers say that they are displacing natural gas usage and in turn, preventing the release of harmful emissions. The additional funding for research, along with tax code revisions, will help, they add. The goals, after all, are job creation, emissions controls and meeting future energy needs.
EnergyBiz Insider has been named Honorable Mention for Best Online Column by Media Industry News, MIN.
Ken Silverstein has also been named one of the Top Economics Journalists by Wall Street Economists.
It's about jobs, emissions
Ken Silverstein | Sep 13, 2011
Source - Energy Biz
If jobs are the Obama administration’s first priority then one of its early stops is at the gates of the hydropower sector. There, two federal agencies have announced $17 million in funding over three years for research and development to advance the renewable energy source. Hydropower has an edge. It is clean and the technologies to improve performance exist. But if it is to expand its national footprint, though, its advocates must emphasize their commitment to sustainability before they raise funds or endorse new legislation. With that in mind, the industry says that it stands ready to deliver.
“Developing hydropower resources can create jobs and bolster the U.S. manufacturing supply chain,” says Linda Church Ciocci, executive director of the National Hydropower Association. “An available, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy source, the industry now employs as many as 300,000 workers. With the right policies in place, hydropower could expand that workforce to more than one million cumulative jobs by 2025.”
Globally, the hydropower market is worth $56.5 billion a year, says a report by business information provider Visiongain. That translates into a 19 percent market share. In the United States, the figure is between 7-9 percent, or roughly 100,000 megawatts. The hydropower association says that this country can do better and raise that by 30,000-60,000 megawatts over 15 years.
Where will it come from? The conventional way to produce hydroelectricity is through dams. But the amount of power is contingent upon the speed of the water that turns the turbines. Dams can increase the velocity by raising the water level. But they leave big footprints and can cause local populations to disperse. Investors, meantime, are skeptical because the permitting process is slow and costly.
Perhaps the most fruitful activity will come from those smaller so-called run-of-the-river facilities. They generate power by redirecting the river's flow using distributed hydropower units that include underwater watermills. While such technology is dependent on stream flow and access to power lines, it does not require the construction of dams that block water and kill off aquatic life.
Favorable Policies
Indeed, several hundred permits are now pending with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), with many of those being granted preliminary approval. Most of those would be run-of-the-river units.
“Even with the practical limitations of run-of-the-river hydroelectric generation, the technology proves to be more reliable and efficient than both wind and solar, especially in the Midwest,” writes Marc Gerken, chief executive of American Municipal Power in Ohio. “Run-of-the-river hydroelectric projects — projects using the energy of water flowing over existing dams — achieve capacity factors of 55-60 percent.”
The company, along with its partners, is now constructing four hydroelectric projects at existing dams on the Ohio River, Gerken adds. It has also just been granted FERC approval to build a fifth site. Altogether, the 129-member municipal entity will own and operate about 400 megawatts.
The administration is focusing its efforts on improving both run-of-the-river technologies as well as the reservoirs that may use pumped storage that releases the water to create electricity when it is most needed. That increases reliability.
Beyond improving the technologies that generate hydropower, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of the Interior want better environmental performance. That is, hydropower is sharply criticized for damaging aquatic and wildlife habitats, which has prevented the growth of the sector.
“By improving and deploying advanced hydropower technologies, we can maximize our use of this proven clean energy resource, create jobs, and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels,” says Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “Hydropower can be used to store energy to help utilities better integrate other sources of renewable energy like wind and solar into the grid.”
The administration says that hydropower can play a major role in helping the country generate 80 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2035. But the hydro association says that favorable legislation is needed, notably tax parity with other green sources. Currently, hydro developers receive about half the tax credit given to wind and solar developers.
Hydro operators are ready to step up. In the Northwest where most such power is generated, developers say that they are displacing natural gas usage and in turn, preventing the release of harmful emissions. The additional funding for research, along with tax code revisions, will help, they add. The goals, after all, are job creation, emissions controls and meeting future energy needs.
EnergyBiz Insider has been named Honorable Mention for Best Online Column by Media Industry News, MIN.
Ken Silverstein has also been named one of the Top Economics Journalists by Wall Street Economists.