United States Department of Energy Water Power
Program: Hydropower R&D Activities
Patrick O’Connor
BCS, Incorporated
3/20/2013
Program Name or Ancillary Text
Wind and Water Power
Technologies Office
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Water Power Program Mission
The mission of the U.S. DOE Water Power Program is to perform research
and testing, and develop innovative technologies capable of generating
renewable, environmentally responsible, and cost-effective electricity
from water resources.
This includes efforts related to:
•
•
Marine and Hydrokinetics
•
waves, tides, and currents in oceans, estuaries, and tidal areas;
•
free flowing water in rivers, lakes, and streams;
•
free flowing water in man-made channels; and
•
differentials in ocean temperature (ocean thermal energy conversion).
Hydropower
•
Efficiency increases and capacity gains at existing power stations
•
Adding power stations at non-powered dams and constructed waterways
•
Quantifying the value of ancillary benefits from pumped-storage and hydro
•
Reducing costs and impacts for new sustainable hydropower developments
Wind and Water Power Program
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Context: DOE Water Power History
• The “Hydropower Program” was closed out in FY 2006, with no funding in FY 2007
• The “Water Power Program” was established in FY 2008 with a new mandate
covering marine and hydrokinetic technologies and conventional hydropower
$59
$60
$50
Marine and Hydrokinetic
$50
$45
Hydropower
$40
$40
$30
$30
$20
$10
DOE “Hydropower Program”
was initiated in FY 1977
$10
$4
$0.5
$0
2006
2007
$-
Millions
$59
1999-2005
Average
Wind and Water Power Program
2008
2009
3
2010
2011
2012
2013 House
Mark
2013
Senate
Mark
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Hydropower
Existing
Facility
Improvements
Constructed
Pumped
Waterways
Storage
Nonpowered
Dams
New
Hydro
Sites
Pumped
Storage
Improving technologies and processes for the efficiency, flexibility, and
environmental performance of the existing hydropower fleet, and investigating
opportunities for new hydropower development, and integrating variable
renewables using the existing fleet and pumped storage hydropower
Wind and Water Power Program
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DOE Hydropower R&D Strategy:
Capitalize on Near-Term Opportunities
Leveraging Existing Infrastructure for Low-Impact Hydropower
Development
•
Rehabilitation, upgrades, and expansion of existing hydropower sites
• 7 upgrade projects supported under 2009 stimulus funding; 3 in service
EOY 2012; 3 more EOY 2013; 1 in 2014
• Conventional technologies, exemplary applications (Abiquiu pictured)
•
New, very-low-head hydropower systems for deployment in canals and
conduits and non-powered dams
• Modularity and standardization leveraging economies of scale (natel
hydroEngine pictured)
• Application of advanced technologies (weisenberger mills variable speed
generator)
Wind and Water Power Program
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DOE Hydropower R&D Strategy:
Capitalize on Near-Term Opportunities
Optimizing Hydropower Systems for Energy and
Environment
•
Multi-objective Water-Use Optimization Toolset
• Systems optimization across seasonal and hourly
timescales to increase generation, flexibility, and
environmental health
Stakeholder Engagement and Coordination
•
Basin-Scale approach to identify sustainable hydropower
and environmental protection/restoration opportunities
• Deschutes Basin study area (state of Oregon) pictured
•
Hydropower Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with
Bureau of Reclamation and Army Corps of Engineers
Wind and Water Power Program
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DOE Hydropower R&D Strategy:
Enabling Variable Renewables
Modeling the benefits and capabilities of advanced hydropower
and pumped storage technologies
•
Running set of interlinked projects simulating hydropower technology
operations in Western U.S. markets
•
EPRI-led analysis 2010-2012
• Case studies and production cost analyses
•
Argonne National Laboratory analysis (ongoing) to improve modeling
representation of advanced pumped storage and simulate operations at
shorter timesteps
• New PSS/E representations of variable speed and ternary PSH
configurations
• Simulated AGC response
Wind and Water Power Program
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DOE Hydropower R&D Strategy:
Environmental Sustainability
• “Sensor fish” measurement tool to evaluate fish interactions
with generating equipment and hydraulic structures
• Currently being reengineered to reduce costs and improve
recoverability
• Alden Fish Friendly Turbine
• Continuation of “old” Hydropower Program, a technology a decade
in the making.
• 94% Efficient, 94-100% aquatic species survival
Typical
Francis
Runner
Wind and Water Power Program
New
Alden
Runner
8
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DOE Hydropower Strategy and R&D:
Refine Long-Term Vision and Strategy
Assessing Potential and Defining a Future DOE Role
•
•
Resource assessment results show potential to double hydropower generation
Most substantial resource in “new hydro” (new sites and, to a lesser extent, nonpowered dams)
• Analysis-driven R&D portfolio to target high impact needs in identified resource
resource characterization + cost analysis + environmental attribution (ongoing)
Wind and Water Power Program
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Thank You!
Questions?
Wind and Water Power Program
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