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Could Hydroelectric Power Flood America with New Power?

Hydroelectric Power (Dams & Pumped Storage)

Date posted: 11/19/15

Dr. Conca reports that there is a lot of new hydroelectric power that could be installed in the U.S. without building a single new dam. He learned that during the All Energy Forum at the recent American Nuclear Society Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Almost 90% of the U.S. low-carbon energy sources come from hydropower-Dams (21%) and nuclear power (67%), which together avoid almost a billion tons of CO2 emissions each year. If the U.S. is to achieve any of the low-carbon goals the U.S. have set out for 2030 and beyond, hydropower must increase significantly and nuclear has to al least maintain its share of power, and even increase slightly by 2030. Note that both sources are high budget-long-term projects, operate 100% of the time, and share existing power distribution systems.

David Zayas, Senior Manager at the National Hydropower Association (NHA), says that the goal is to double hydropower over the next few decades, adding 60 GW by 2030, producing an additional 300 billion kWhs of electricity each year.

There are about 2,200 hydroelectric plants in this country totaling 80 GW, producing about 7% of our electricity. About 70% of them are less than 10 MW. Half of them are privately-owned and half are federal, but most of the capacity is in the federal dams. While the Pacific Northwest leads the nation in installed capacity, the Northeast has the highest concentration of facilities, or number of dams.

Hydropower manufacturing has spread across 38 states, with more than 170 companies producing one or more of six major hydropower components ... turbines, generators, transformers, penstocks, gates, and valves. The industry employs over 55,000 high-paying jobs.

It is ironic that the two largest providers of low-carbon electricity, hydro and nuclear, also have the most onerous regulatory hurdles that make construction lengthy and expensive. Ten years is common for merely licensing. Once built, however, both enjoy the longest of facility life-times.