Global Headlines

Asia/Oceania

Hydro Project Activity: Contract awarded for modernization of Kyrgyzstan’s Toktogul plant

A joint venture of GE Hydro and GE Renewables has been awarded a turnkey contract for the modernization of Kyrgyzstan’s Toktogul project. The US$104 million deal, offered by JSC Electric Power Plants, will expand Toktogul’s capacity from 1,200 MW to about 1,440 MW.

The facility, on the Naryn River near Jalal-Abad, is Kyrgyzstan’s largest and oldest, having come on line more than 40 years ago. The project’s aging has decreased its production, prompting the Asian Development Bank and Eurasian Development Bank to help undertake a rehabilitation that began in 2012. The plant once supplied 70% of the country’s electricity but now accounts for only 40%.

The first turbine is scheduled for commissioning in November 2020, with an additional unit to follow each year through 2023.

Latin America

Hydro Project Activity: Peru’s Luz could increase capacity by 320 MW after pair of approvals

Luz del Sur has received a pair of authorizations associated with its Santa Teresa and Santa Teresa 2 projects from the Peruvian government. The Ministry of Mines and Energy first granted the company its environmental approval for the 280-MW Santa Teresa 2 in early February, capping a review process that extended nearly three years.

If constructed, the US$600 million project would be located in the Cusco region of the Vilcanota river basin. The project has faced opposition from a number of groups, however, who believe the hydropower plant might harm the environment and its tourism industry.

Construction is expected to take about four years but cannot begin until Luz del Sur obtains a number of other permits and licenses for its operation.

The plant is a sister facility to Santa Teresa, which received approval from the ministry to expand its capacity from 98 MW to 139 MW. The $105 million upgrade, submitted to the agency’s Office of Environmental Affairs in 2016, will see the addition of a new underground powerhouse, tunnel and pair of turbines.

North America

Innergex now largest renewable energy producer in British Columbia

Through its acquisition of Alterra Power Corp., now complete, Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. has become the largest independent renewable energy producer in British Columbia, according to a press release.

The two companies announced they had entered into an agreement for the acquisition in October 2017.

Under the agreement, Innergex acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Alterra for an aggregate consideration of $1.1 billion, including the assumption of Alterra’s debt.

This acquisition adds 485 MW (1,049 MW gross) of renewable energy assets in operation and under construction to Innergex’s portfolio, bringing the company’s total capacity to 1,609 MW (2,896 MW gross). Innergex says its installed capacity is expected to reach more than 2,000 MW of hydro, wind, solar and geothermal projects in Canada, the U.S., France and Iceland by 2020.

Additionally, the acquisition brings Innergex a pipeline of projects in preliminary stages or in progress with an estimated net capacity of more than 5,000 MW.

Africa

Drought is straining Kenya’s hydroelectric resources

In early February, government officials said Kenya’s 40-MW Masinga plant would be forced offline within the next two weeks should rain not break the region’s ongoing drought soon.

Speaking at a meeting with Kenya’s Energy Parliamentary Committee, Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter said, “water levels are too low to allow continued generation of electricity at the station,” adding the hydropower plant’s closure could come before the end of the month.

The run-of-river facility, located on the Tana River between the borders of Embu and Machakos counties, is operated by the Kenya Electricity Generating Co. KenGen considered raising its 200-foot-tall dam a decade ago, though the plan was eventually scrapped due to its anticipated cost.

Masinga was shuttered twice in 2017 due to similar drought conditions. “Last year was very bad,” Keter said. “But if it rains in March or April we will be OK. [The waterline is] still about five meters above sea level.”

Europe

Hydro Project Activity: EIB approves loan to fund hydropower project in Georgia

With its approval of a US$150 million loan, European Investment Bank (EIB) joins the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in financing the $1.1 billion 280-MW Nenskra hydropower project in Georgia.

EBRD committed a total of $230 million to the project and, to date, AIIB has provided $8.7 million.

JSC Nenskra Hydro says it is building the facility in the Nenskra and Nakra river valleys in Mestia municipality of the Svaneti region, in Northwest Georgia. The scheme includes: a 130-m-high dam that will impound Nenskra River creating Nenskra Reservoir, which will have a live storage of about 176 million m³.

Editor’s Note: This department features the biggest news item from each world region. Up-to-the-minute news on the global hydro market is available on the World Regions page at www.HydroWorld.com/world-regions.html.