1000 Megawatts of Run-of-River Hydro on Tap for British Columbia
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08.15.08
photo by Alistair Howard
When most people think of hydro-electric power they probably think of large dam projects such as China’s Three Gorges Dam, India’s dams on the Narmada River , or closer to home (at least to my home) the Hoover Dam. Perhaps needless to say, big hydro-electric projects like this can generate a great deal of power, but there are significant environmental trade offs.
A Less Intrusive Way to Develop Hydro-Electric Power
A less environmentally intrusive way to develop hydro power is known as run-of-river hydro—skip down if you’re unfamiliar with how this works—and more of this is just what’s being planned for British Columbia. Plutonic Power and GE Financial Services have signed a memorandum of understanding that will have the two developing 1000 MW of run-of-rive hydro-electric capacity.
At a total cost of approximately USD 4-billion, the Upper Toba Valley Project will consist of of three sites totaling 120 MW, while the Bute Inlet Project will consist of 18 sites for 900 MW of capacity.
GE will contribute $70 million for a 50% stake in the Upper Toba Valley Project; $650 million for a 60% interest in the Bute Inlet Project.
Both projects are being submitted for BC Hydro’s Clean Power Call, which is part of British Columbia’s greater goal of having at least 90% of the province’s electricity come from clean or renewable sources by 2016.
image: Plutonic Power Corp.
So How Does Run-of-River Work?
Plutonic Power describes run-of-river hydro as well as anyone:
Unlike traditional hydroelectric facilities, which flood large areas of land, run-of-river projects do not require any damming of water. Instead, some of the water is diverted from a river, and sent into a pipe called a penstock. The penstock feeds the water downhill to a generating station. The natural force of gravity creates the energy required to spin the turbines that in turn generate electricity. The water leaves the generating station and is returned to the river without altering the existing flow or water levels.Plutonic Power's run-of-river projects have been located on streams with natural waterfalls that act as barriers for fish, thus greatly minimizing negative impacts on fish and wildlife habitat.
via :: :: Renewable Energy World
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What a novel idea! Shame they didn't think of it at the Falls of the Clyde, or Niagara Falls...
The big problem with run of river power, is that the companies building these systems usually prevent ALL other users of the area from getting in. This is blocking recreational use of BC's river valleys, interrupting wildlife movements, etc, etc....
this is awesome! do we have any in the USA?
While this is good and all, it sure would be a stunningly good idea to have some of those not-so-constant renewable sources of power like wind or solar (although the climate here isn't too Solar-friendly) being used here. We're just *now* setting up a few wind farms to test the idea that they might work. Which is pretty silly, since all the hydro we have is a perfect backup for inconsistent renewable - Hydro being the kind of thing that you can turn on and off at nearly a moment's notice. We should have been a pioneer in wind power for the past 20 years.
Either way, I still have to congratulate BC Hydro for getting their act together, even if it's been so belated.
this sounds alot like the power generating setups at Niagara Falls in NY and our own here near Seattle (Snoqualemie Falls).
"do we have any in the USA?"
Lots of very small scale installation.
It's pretty common for people setting up their own hydro systems to use this technique.
Drop a pipe in a stream uphill/upstream, route it through their turbine, and return the output to the original stream.
I have several friends who get their winter power this way. (Not enough flow in the summer here in dry summer CA.)
I vote "not awesome." We have lots of this"run of river" hydropower in the Northwest and among the big problems are that the water is diverted from the stream which runs for miles in a pipeline or canal parallel to the river. The water in the canal is water (and habitat) that is not in the river and not available for migrating salmon etc. The diversion structures themselves are also typically small dams that block passage of fish, wood, and gravel. This canal typically intercepts tributary streams so that connectivity is lost between the river and tributary streams. The canals are also built on oversteepened rugged mountains often resulting in landslides. The flow of water is also turn on an doff to suit the energy needs of people which is usually inconsistent with the rythms of the river and the species that dwell there. Let's focus on conservation and other forms of renewable energy.
It just occurred to me that New York City derives much of it's drinking water from reservoirs it built in the last century. Wouldn't it be something if thy ran all that water through penstocks and turbines.
New Zealand already has some hydro systems like this. They managed to build a huge hydro powerstation (850MW!) without harming any of the area's ecology or destroying the lakes it was built on. And its an amazing tourist attraction (I've been). Really sad that Iceland is not doing the same thing, instead destroying a huge valley for hydro power.
check out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manapouri_Power_Station
Hello,
You write that "unlike traditional hydroelectric facilities, which flood large areas of land, run-of-river projects do not require any damming of water. ."
Unfortunately, this is not true. All hydroelectric projects use dams, including run of river projects.
For political reasons, proponents have started calling them "weirs", but it is just another name for dam. Some run of river projects operate very large dams. For example, Plutonic is currently planning to build a dam that is 30 meters high.
In many parts of the world, the term "run of river" is usually used for dams that have short term storage (less than one year). In British Columbia, the storage is typically 48 hours. The bottom line is that, whether the water is kept for 48 hours or 1 year, a dam is a dam.
We are discovering in British Columbia that so-called “green” run of river projects are extremely damaging to our ecosystems, destroying hundreds of creeks and rivers (often fish bearing ones), bringing roads and construction and power lines and human activity to pristine wilderness areas, dumping tons of rubble into river beds, in some cases sucking the rivers dry – and yes, building dams. This is why a growing number of British Columbians are opposing run of river projects and calling for a moratorium.
Ivan Doumenc
Vancouver, British Columbia
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author responds:
You're right. I should have been more precise: Run-of-river hydro doesn't use the gigantic reservoir dams which most people think of when someone mentions hydroelectric power.