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Category: Hydro

OSD to being testing of tidal energy device in Humber estuary

September 3rd, 2010 | Posted in Hydro | No Comments

UK based Offshore Ship Designers (OSD) are going to commence testing activities at the Humber estuary site where Neptune Renewable Energy's (NRE) Proteus NP1000 tidal energy conversion device it to be installed. OSD is the company that brought NRE's technology into life through a catamaran like device, measuring 20 meters in length and 14 meters in width. It weighs more than 150 tons, and was built in Sunderland, under supervision of OSD, then transported to Hull, where performance trials are to take place.

US DoE chooses Princeton Power Systems for hydropower converter development

August 26th, 2010 | Posted in Hydro | No Comments

The US Department of Energy has chosen Princeton Power Systems for the development of advanced power conversion systems for application in commercial tidal, wave, and other hydropower projects.

The technology uses a high-power (1.5 MW) converter design which allows much higher power density as well as direct connection to a 12 kV (or higher) power lines, without the need for a transformer. This could significantly reduce the space and logistical requirements of marine energy projects. Additionally, the direct power grid connection will increase efficiency of remote marine energy power plants, which will eventually bring down the cost of marine energy derived electricity.

[source: Princeton Power Systems]

PG&E planning a major pumped storage facility in California

August 24th, 2010 | Posted in Hydro | No Comments

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has commissioned a feasibility study for a major new pumped storage facility in Amador County, California. The facility would be used to provide a backup system for the power grid, in the case of large fluctuations of electricity production from wind and solar energy facilities. The intermittency of wind and solar as energy sources causes major issues for power grid operators, who constantly have to be prepared to compensate for sudden drops or peaks in electricity supply from these sources, in order to keep the grid stable. Pumped storage is one of the best solutions for storing energy for later use.

Hammerfest Strøm to develop HS1000 tidal turbines in Scotland

August 18th, 2010 | Posted in Hydro | No Comments

Hammerfest Strøm (Norway) announced the company's has chosen the fabricator for its HS1000 tidal turbine, having 1 MW of capacity, which is to be installed at the European Marine Energy Center (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland. The fabrication contract has been awarded to Burntisland Fabrication, based in Fife, Scotland. Hammerfest Strøm announced the HS1000 turbine to ready for fabrication back in Februrary this year, after receiving GBP 4 million in funding from the Crown Estate for its tidal turbine project.

Voith Hydro to overhaul five Francis turbines at hydropower plant in BC

August 18th, 2010 | Posted in Hydro | No Comments

Voith Hydro has received an order from BC Hydro (Canada) for the complete overhaul of five hydropower generators, including five Francis turbines, and accompanying equipment at the company's Gordon M. Shrum hydropower facility in British Columbia, Canada.

Voith Hydro is to supply five new 310 MW Francis turbines, install them and commission them upon successful installation. The first of the big machines is to be commissioned in 2012, while the remaining four will be commissioned each successive year after, until early 2017, when the whole process will be complete. At the moment, the power plant has five turbines each outputting 266 MW of power. The additional capacity to be achieved through the overhaul, will account for clean electricity for about 15,000 additional average homes in the area.

The Gordon M. Shrum facility was originally put into operation in the late 1960's, and represents about 12% of BC's total power generating capacity.

[source: Voith Hydro]

Atlantis unveils AK1000 tidal current turbine

August 16th, 2010 | Posted in Hydro | No Comments

Atlantis Resources Corporation (ARC) announced the unveiling of its latest tidal current turbine, the AK1000, last Wednesday. The new turbine has been fully assembled and displayed at Invergordon, Scotland. It is now ready to be installed at the test site later this summer, at the European Marine Energy Center (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland. The company announced its intention to test this model last December, as we reported here.

Sanko inaugurates Cevizlik hydropower plant in Turkey

August 13th, 2010 | Posted in Hydro | No Comments

Sanko officially inaugurated the Cevizlik hydropower plant in Turkey, with 100 MW of installed power generating capacity. The power plant uses two Fransic hydroturbines to power the electrical generators. The turbines and generators were supplied and installed by Alstom.

Plutonic Power and GE start exporting power from hydro project in BC

August 10th, 2010 | Posted in Hydro | No Comments

Plutonic Power Company and GE jointly announced the start of power exporting at the East Toba River and Montrose Creek run-of-the-river power generating facilities in British Columbia, Canada. The projects have been developed under the Toba Montrose General Partnership, comprised of the two companies. All power generated at the plants is being exported to BC Hydro under a 35-year electricity purchase agreement (EPA). The power plant uses Pelton hydroturbines, fed through six nozzles.

The project has been completed after three years of construction, and is the first clean energy project in Canada for Plutonic Power and GE Energy Financial Services in operation. The project has been developed in collaboration with First Nation partners (Klahoose, Sliammon and Sechelt nations).

The project, including the construction of the power generators and the transmission lines, represents a USD 663 million investment.

[source: GE and Plutonic Power]

US DoE designates national marine renewable energy center

August 9th, 2010 | Posted in Hydro | No Comments

The US Department of Energy has designated the Center for Ocean Energy Technology (COET) at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), as the national center for ocean energy R&D. The Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center (SNMREC) is now the third such research center, joining the existing two in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii. DoE will provide funding for SNMREC operations involving research and development of advanced technologies for harnessing the energy from the ocean. These include ocean current and ocean thermal energy, among others. FAU has a very good location for research and testing these technologies, being near Florida Straits and the Gulf Stream, much like the European Marine Energy Center (EMEC) is located in Orkney, next to prime marine energy locations, on the northern coast of Scotland.

SNMREC will collaborate with industrial partners in order to refine, investigate, produce and test next generation ocean power technologies. Initial work by the center will be the deployment of ocean current observation systems, with the goal to establish a reasearch baseline. At some point, SNMREC will be doing full-scale testing of prototypes.

[source: Florida Atlantic University]

Bilfinger Berger wins major order for hydropower project in Austria

August 7th, 2010 | Posted in Hydro | No Comments

Bilfinger Berger announced the company has been awarded two major contracts in the energy industry. One contract is for preventive service and maintenance on a thermal power plant in Poland. The second contract is for the construction of pressure tunnel plating for the pumped-storage hydropower project Reißeck II in Austria, awarded by Verbund Austria Hydro Power.