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US DOE invests $430 million in hydropower upgrades
- a month ago (2024-09-06)
- David Flin
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced selection of 293 hydropower improvement projects across 33 states that will receive up to $430 million in incentive payments. The facilities involved have been in operation for an average of 79 years.
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The Maintaining and Enhancing Hydroelectricity Incentives programme will be administered by the Grid Deployment Office (GDO) and funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It aims to enhance dam safety, improve grid resilience at 215 facilities, and protect 6000 existing jobs at hydropower facilities.
Hydropower currently accounts for nearly 27 per cent of renewable electricity generation in the USA, and 93 per cent of all utility-scale energy storage. However, the fleet if aging, with many facilities in need of repair and upgrades.
To improve grid resilience at hydropower dams, the announced projects include:
- Replacing or upgrading turbines and generators.
- Upgrading control systems.
- Upgrading cables and transformers.
- Upgrading penstocks.
The projects to improve dam safety will upgrade aging dam infrastructure and strengthen existing infrastructure against extreme weather events.