Hydro Currents

摘要

With a background of federal and state incentives, advancement of new kinetic technologies, and higher oil prices, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has logged applications for more than 10,000 MW of new hydropower. "We have not seen this level of interest in more than a decade," Kim Nguyen of FERC's Office of Energy Projects told commissioners. Pending applications would increase conventional hydropower capacity by 430 MW and pumped-storage capacity by 900 MW, Nguyen said. Other projects in the pre-filing stage could add nearly 450 MW from conventional hydro and 2,785 MW from pumped storage. In addition, more than 6,000 MW is being proposed from hydrokinetic projects.