Innovation in Global Power - Parsons Brinckerhoff

GENERATION:
Hydropower - New Technologies, New Considerations
Does Hydro Have a Future?
Hydropower has been around for centuries and hydro-electric power has been providing
clean energy since electro-magnetic generators first became available. The U.S. Department
of Energy (http://www1.eere.energy.gov) claims the first use of a hydro-electric supply in
1880 for “Michigan’s Grand Rapids Electric Light and Power Company, generating electricity
by dynamo belted to a water turbine at the Wolverine Chair Factory.” Wikipedia
(http://en.wikipedia.org) claims, “The world’s first public electricity supply was provided in late
1881, when the streets of the Surrey town of Godalming in the UK were lit with electric
light.” Coincidentally, I write this introduction from PB’s Westbrook Mills office in Godalming,
which some say was the site used for the original hydro station.
So is hydropower an outdated technology with nothing new to offer? Is it too big, too costly
and too ugly? Is it a threat to indigenous peoples, river life, the rain forests, the ozone layer,
apple pie, motherhood and life as we know it? Does it have a future?
The critics of hydropower and dams more generally have used most, though probably not all,
of the arguments above in recent years. As colleagues’ articles clearly show, PB is finding novel
solutions to old problems and, with its work on relicensing of existing stations and licensing of
the new developments in the USA, is bringing a broad range of skills and professionalism to
issues of safety, environmental impact, stakeholder interests and techno-economic viability. It
is particularly heartening to note the work on the Massena Grass River Project, where a new
dam and power house will replace a 200-year-old weir and restore a lake-side aspect to the
town. That the Tapoco Project, first licensed in 1955, may now continue to operate until
2045, is a significant achievement for PB’s team and a good indicator of the worth of
hydropower as a long-term, cost-effective source of clean energy.
The range of hydro work described by colleagues demonstrates that hydropower comes in
many sizes and types, from mini-hydro applications to the massive and complex pumpedstorage
schemes handled by our teams in Christchurch, New Zealand. Most definitely in
the large and complex category is the study being handled by our hydro specialists in Boston
for the Greenland aluminum smelter project, comprising three underground power houses,
which together may require ten dams, three canals and seven tunnels.
The articles that follow clearly show that hydro is not a “one-size-fits-all” technology, far less
that it has “had its day.” PB is using an exceptional range of expertise to find modern solutions
that address both the practical engineering problems posed by a project and the hearts and
minds issues that are vital for project success.
So does hydro have a future? With oil at $250 a barrel, the growing pressures to reduce
global carbon emissions and an estimated 4000 to 6000 TWh/year worldwide of untapped
energy from hydro, absolutely!
John Wichall
Engineering Manager, Godalming, UK
21 PB Network #68 / August 2008