Worldwide, for hydroelectric power, 2022 was a very good year. For the U.S., it was nothing special.
According to the International Hydropower Association’s “2023 World Hydropower Outlook,” hydro generated 4,408 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2022, up 3.7% over 2021. Installed capacity rose 2.7% to 1,397 GW, an increase of 34 GW, including 10.5 GW of pumped storage (a 6% increase).
For the U.S., the story of power produced by running water is stagnation. According to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, U.S. 2022 installed conventional hydro capacity was 79.7 GW, essentially unchanged for at least the past five years. The same story is true for U.S. pumped storage, with generating capacity unchanged from 2017 to 2022 at 23 GW.
Internationally, says the IHA, “2022 marks the first time since 2016 that more than 30 GW of hydropower came online, including 10 GW of pumped storage.” Hydro constituted 15% of the world’s generating capacity in 2022 (it was an unchanged 6% for the U.S.). Around the world, some 590 GW of hydro projects are in “various stages of development, including 214 GW” of pumped storage.
Despite the worldwide progress in hydro, the trends are not enough to meet the net zero carbon goal for 2050 of 700 GW, according to the hydro trade group. “Sustainable hydropower is a clean, green, modern and affordable solution to climate change. But the market won’t deliver sufficient hydropower capacity alone,” said IHA CEO Eddie Rich.
Rich called for “financial and market mechanisms that reward flexibility, accelerate the development of renewables through streamlined permitting and licensing and embed hydropower sustainability practices in government regulation.”
Malcolm Turnbull, former Australian Prime Minister, said in an IHA press release, “IHA calculated the required financial investment to meet net zero targets as US$100 billion a year. However, current investment levels are roughly half this figure. Governments need to assess their broad energy needs including long-term storage and create financial mechanisms that incentivise investment in hydropower, as we’ve seen with the US’s IRA and the EU’s Green Deal. While the numbers are at last moving in the right direction, there needs to be a greater push to meet global targets.” Turnbull is a member of IHA’s board.
China led the world in new hydro in 2022, with 24 GW of new capacity. Europe added 3 GW, while the Americas saw 2-GW in new capacity, and central and southern Asia added another 2 GW, according to IHA statistics.
Pakistan commissioned the 720-MW Karot project last June. According to Wikipedia, it was financed by China’s state-owned China Three Gorges Corp. as part of China’s Silk Road Fund. The cost was $1.42 billion. In India, GE last July commissioned the 180-MW Bajoli Holi run-of-river project, which consists of three 60-MW units on the Ravi River in northern Himachal Pradesh. The river already had substantial hydro generation.
While China has been building dams with a frenzy (along with every other kind of electric generation), the U.S. hydro focus has been on taking dams down, most recently the four-dam, 160-MW Klamath River system, at a cost of about $450 million.
The major hydro news story of recent days has been the June 6 explosion of the Nova Kakhovka hydro dam on the Dnieper River in the war-torn territory between Russia and Ukraine. While the focus has been on the impact on the source of cooling water for the giant Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant downstream, which appears to be limited, the breach also removed 357-MW of power capacity from the 67-year-old Soviet era power plant, flooded large amounts of agricultural territory, and killed 10, with 40 people still missing, according to the Ukrainian government.
The hydro plant was occupied by Russians, as is the nuclear plant. It is not clear whether the explosion was caused by Russia, Ukraine, or was a natural break. The New York Times reported, “With Russia and Ukraine blaming each other for the collapse of the Kakhovka dam, experts say that an external attack or even structural failure might explain the disaster, but that it is not likely.”
There may be a positive side to the major damage to the Kakhovka dam, according to the Kyiv Independent: “The Kakhovka dam’s destruction provides an opportunity to reconsider the country’s approach to energy, food, and water security, much of which still relies on infrastructure built during the Soviet era.”
–Kennedy Maize
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