Learn more about Powering Existing Dams.
Converting Non-Powered Dams
Only 3 percent of the nation’s 80,000 dams currently generate electricity, and as we move to a clean energy economy, it is vital that we tap these unused resources.
By installing electricity generation equipment at these currently non-powered dams, America’s hydropower industry can tap the waters already flowing through this existing infrastructure. Converting these dams expands our supply of domestic, renewable energy and maximizes the benefits of our existing infrastructure, while continuing to safeguard the state of our watersheds.
Developing these untapped hydropower resources would create and support hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs that cannot be outsourced. A 2009 Navigant study indicates that installing 60,000 MW would result in 1.4 million cumulative jobs by 2025. Ten thousand of those megawatts will come from converting non-powered dams, creating jobs in every region across the country.
Project Highlight: Hydro Green Energy
As we look for ways to expand America’s access to affordable, sustainable hydropower, adding hydroelectric generation at our existing dams is a top priority. One company leading the way on this low-impact development, and the clean energy job creation that comes with it, is Illinois-based Hydro Green Energy (HGE).
A National Hydropower Association President’s Award winner for the country’s first commercial, FERC-licensed hydrokinetic project on the Upper Mississippi River, HGE is helping to transform the way we build hydropower in the U.S. With two patents already, and dozens more pending here and abroad, HGE is deploying a “plug-and-play,” low-head hydropower solution that minimizes the civil work and costs of hydroelectric equipment installation. (A “low-head” project is a hydroelectric installation with a relatively small fall of water, typically under 30 feet.) It’s the company’s innovative technology and process that has allowed HGE to expand its portfolio to 28 projects in 13 states. It’s also the reason why the Department of Energy awarded the company $1.8 million in September 2011 to fund advanced hydropower research.
Nearly all of Hydro Green Energy’s new projects are at locks and dams operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These facilities, originally built for flood control, navigation or both, could potentially power hundreds of thousands of homes, a fact confirmed this year by the Department of Energy/Oak Ridge National Laboratory Hydropower Assessment unveiled at the NHA Annual Conference in April. Seven of these projects bring HGE to the Mississippi River, where the company is planning at least 56 MW of hydropower. In total, the projects would provide energy to approximately 35,000 homes in the Midwest. Eight of HGE’s projects are located on the Kentucky, Ohio and Monongahela Rivers, which all flow through the heart of coal country, helping to dispel the myth that the region lacks renewable resources. In addition to clean power, HGE is also bringing clean energy jobs to these regions – each project under development by HGE is expected to create approximately 140 jobs during development, as well as several permanent jobs.
In total, the company’s initial project pipeline will provide enough reliable, renewable electricity to power approximately 161,000 U.S. homes a year and annually avoid 2.2 billion pounds of carbon emissions. The future looks bright as well: HGE has permits processing on another 231 MW of capacity and many of the sites under the control of HGE can be expanded after initial development. Hydro Green Energy is demonstrating the growth potential and availability of hydropower in every part of the country, while bringing jobs and economic development to the communities where they build.
Project Highlight: Advanced Hydro Solutions
Advanced Hydro Solutions is an Ohio company converting an existing dam into a source of renewable energy. Located in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, the project will install generation equipment at the Mahoning Creek Dam, a flood control project built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1942. Advanced Hydro Solutions filed a final license application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in July of 2009 and expects the $12.5 million project to be in operation in the summer of 2011. When complete, the Mahoning Creek Dam will have a capacity of 6MW and is expected to generate approximately 20,000MWh of power each year. With 1MW of electricity able power between 750 and 1,000 average U.S. homes, the Mahoning project could keep the lights on for as many as 6,000 families in the region.
Project Highlight: American Municipal Power
American Municipal Power (AMP) is leading the way in expanding hydropower capacity in the Midwest, with plans to convert six dams along the Ohio River that previously had no electric generating equipment. Combined, the projects will add 350 MW of new renewable generation and represent the largest development of new run-of-river hydropower in the country.
Among the three projects that have already begun construction is the Smithland Locks and Dam. The $400 million Smithland project is expected to be completed in spring of 2014 and will have a capacity of 72MW. As many as 400 construction workers will be employed to build the project, and 7-9 permanent operating positions will also be established.
Two other projects are also underway, at the Captain Anthony Meldahl Locks and Dam and the Cannelton Locks and Dam, and another three — the RC Byrd, Willow Island and Pike Island dams — are in development.