National Hydropower Association’s Post

We are pleased to announce the release of our 2023 Year in Review publication which highlights the OWA’s advocacy efforts and showcases the success of our members. Thank you to all of our guest contributors and advertisers for their support.  Click here to access the publication: https://bit.ly/4ajrHMD Featured articles include: ➡ Little Long Dam Safety Project Nearing Completion in Northeast Ontario  ➡ Canada’s Pumped Storage Opportunities  ➡ OPG’s Sir Adam Beck 1 Generating Station Tailrace Deck Replacement  ➡ Vale Canada’s Wabagishik Spillway and Side Dams Replacement Projects ➡ The OWA’s Waterpower Action Plan ➡ New Clean Energy Tax Credits Bolster Case for Hydropower Investment ➡ Survey Reveals Workforce Insights from Ontario’s Waterpower Industry Guest Contributors: Brendan Arghittu, Hatch Andre Friedmann, P. Eng., Ontario Power Generation Trevor deBoer and Shaun Pretli, Aird & Berlis LLP Merry Dang, KGS Group Michael Morgenroth, Stantec #YearinReview #Waterpower #RenewableEnergy #Hydropower 

It is an exciting time to be in waterpower in Ontario and in Canada. Hydropower has over 100 years of success in providing electricity to meet needs for baseload, storage, and peaking and is now being used with wind and solar synchronization and for intermittent renewable storage. With sustainable design solutions that include sediment transport, fish passage and river connectivity, it is only getting better. Many of our century old plants are still operating today, and engineers back then often designed them with extra bays for future turbines that have yet to be installed. Refurbishment not only brings increased capacity from more efficient turbine installation but presents opportunities to add more turbines. Often the river also gets a more environmentally friendly technology if old oil lubricated bearings are replaced with modern water lubricated bearings such as from Ontario's own Thordon Bearings Inc. Let us join forces across this country to flex our collective hydropower muscle and make the changes necessary to put waterpower back on the table as the low cost and sustainable renewable energy solution that it has always been for isolated and grid-connected solutions.

Canada bet heavily on hydro as a means of cleaning up its carbon footprint; it is the third-largest hydroelectricity producer in the world. But with the climate becoming markedly drier in recent years, Canada’s utilities are now investing hundreds of billions of dollars to diversify their grids, in some cases leaning on power plants fueled by gas or coal to meet mushrooming demand. https://lnkd.in/dF-c8HMe

In a meeting called by the Prime Minister yesterday, the overwhelming focus was on short-term measures at the expense of structural reform necessary to address the current economic downturn. Addressing long-term structural challenges requires serious structural measures, they cannot be addressed by short-term policy reliefs. Amidst these challenging times, it is unfortunate to see the inclusion of unviable projects such as Budhigandaki Hydropower and impractical projects like Karnali - Chisapani Hydropower project in the government's declaration aimed at addressing current challenges. It signals the lack of understanding of the gravity of the current situation and measures to address it. #StructuralReform2.0 #IIDSPolicyConclave2023

In case you missed it, Monday's POWERHOUSE featured an article titled "Why Modernizing the Columbia River Treaty is Critical for the Future of Pacific Northwest Hydropower." The article provides an overview of the Columbia River Treaty, an agreement signed between the U.S. and Canada in 1961 and implemented in 1964, which contains a provision giving Canada half of the additional power produced at downstream U.S. dams from the construction of Canadian storage facilities. Due to the Columbia River Treaty, the U.S. loses $300 million in #hydropower value each year, but the The Columbia River Treaty Power Group is seeking a fair and equitable outcome of a modernized treaty on behalf of Northwest electric ratepayers. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gTduKdhn

This is why securing hydropower facilities and dams from unauthorized access is critical. Advanced #videosurveillance systems can help. When installing such a system, consider investing in equipment that includes the following features: Read More: https://lnkd.in/eCw4pJfe

Check out our article on the Grand River Dam Authority analyzing the Salina Pumped Storage Project from our September issue. In 1968, the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) in northeastern Oklahoma built one of the first pumped storage hydro projects in the United States. Now, the facility is once again at the forefront of attention as GRDA considers whether to modify it or simply add battery storage to its fleet. In this interview, Hydro Leader talks with Hydropower Manager Steve Jacoby about the potential value of reusing existing pumped storage assets. https://bit.ly/45yAN5k Page 12 #SalinaPumpedStorage #HydroAnalysis #GRDASalinaProject #EnergyStorageInsights #HydropowerInnovation