POWER July 2011 - 46

RENEWABLES
easier and cheaper to store water and convert
it into electricity.
Today, according to ORNL, pumped
storage provides 20 GW of U.S. capacity.
Forty-one projects are licensed by FERC,
six are under review, and one has been proposed
but is not yet in the regulatory process.
The largest pumped storage project in
the U.S. is Virginia's Bath County station,
at 2,772 MW (Figure 3). The project went
into service in 1985, at a cost of $1.6 billion,
following years of controversy. Because
they are large and expensive, pumped storage
projects often draw local fire, including
opposition to the high-voltage power
lines that are part of the package.
The slow but steady return of hydro to
the menu of politically, environmentally,
and economically respectable generation
was on display in April in Washington at
the annual meeting of the National Hydropower
Association (NHA). The NHA is the
lobbying and trade group for the waterto-watts
crowd. What follows is some of
the evidence for the return of hydro that
emerged from that meeting.
Hydro Is Essential for RPS
States are beginning to look at ways to foster
hydro developments in order to meet their renewable
portfolio standards (RPS). The model
is Colorado. Last summer the state signed
a memorandum of understanding with FERC
designed to streamline and speed up licensing
of projects in that state that present a
minimal environmental impact, such as generation
from irrigation conduits, wastewater
and industrial outflow, and projects under 5
MW in size.
Colorado in 2010 increased its renewable
energy requirement from 20% to 30% by
2020. That goal probably can't be met without
new hydro. A study by the DOE's Idaho
National Laboratory found that Colorado has
a potential for 1,400 MW of new hydro in
projects of less than 5 MW. Under the agreement
with FERC, the state is developing a
pilot project to identify projects that qualify
for streamlined federal review.
Colorado's Francisco Flores told the NHA
meeting, " The FERC process has not worked
very well historically for small hydro. " Under
the new deal with FERC, the state is
working with the developers, the natural
resource agencies, and investors to present
a finished package to the federal regulators,
short-stopping two steps out of three in the
licensing process.
Congress is looking at new hydro legislation
designed to boost conventional and
unconventional waterpower technologies,
including traditional terrestrial (S. 629) and
new ocean-based approaches (S. 630) to
making electricity. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (RAlaska)
told the NHA meeting that for her,
as ranking minority member of the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources Committee,
and chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), the
bills are high priorities. Whether the rest of
the Congress will also view hydro power as
a priority is not clear. The Senate committee
last year passed a comprehensive energy bill,
3. Perfect peaking power. Virginia's Bath County Pumped Storage Plant is jointly owned
by " Dominion and the operating companies of the Allegheny Power System, and managed by
Dominion Generation, " according to the Dominion website. The two reservoirs, one located
1,262 feet above the other, flow water to produce electricity using the plant's six 462-MW turbines
during periods of high electricity demand. The plant entered commercial service in 1985.
Courtesy: VEPCO/Dominion Resources
with provisions boosting hydro, but it died
far short of even getting to the Senate floor.
Murkowski told the group that the energy
committee will probably avoid comprehensive,
kitchen sink legislation this year and instead
focus on discrete topics, such as hydro.
But the Senate committee will also be looking
over its shoulder at what's happening in
the other arm of Congress, where new spending
and ramped up federal programs have
far fewer friends. This year, she said, " We
are often asking, 'WWTHD', what will the
House do. "
The executive branch is putting some of
its weakening financial muscle behind hydro.
On the day of the NHA meeting-the timing
was clearly intentional-the DOE and the Interior
Department's Bureau of Reclamation
announced a joint program to put $26.6 million
into funding innovative technologies that
can " produce power more efficiently, reduce
costs and increase sustainable hydropower
generation at sites not previously considered
practical. " The funds are aimed at:
■ Small hydropower ($10.5 million awarded
over three years). These projects will
research, develop, and test low-head
small hydropower technologies that can
be quickly and efficiently deployed in
existing or constructed waterways. The
DOE will fund system or component
model development, as well as the testing
of these systems.
■ Environmental mitigation technology for
conventional hydropower ($2.25 million
awarded over three years). These projects
will develop innovative conventional
hydropower technologies that feature
designs to increase electricity generation
while mitigating fish and habitat
impacts and enhancing downstream water
quality. The agencies are looking for
ways to demonstrate turbine efficiencies
greater than 90% and fish passage survival
greater than 96%.
■ Pumped storage ($11.875 million
awarded over four years). The DOE
wants to speed up pumped storage hydropower
projects already in the pipeline.
Projects that begin construction by
2014 and integrate wind or solar will get
preference. The DOE will also support
analyses that calculate the economic
value of pumped storage hydropower in
responding to the grid and in providing
other ancillary services.
■ Advanced conventional hydropower system
testing at a Bureau of Reclamation
facility ($2.0 million awarded over three
years). These projects will support system
tests of innovative, low-head hydropower
technologies at non-powered Reclama46
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POWER July 2011

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