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The Congo Republic’s 19.9-MW Liouesso plant has been officially commissioned, following a ceremony that took place in late May.
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Africa

Congo Republic’s 19.9-MW Liouesso hydroelectric project inaugurated

The Congo Republic’s 19.9-MW Liouesso plant has been officially commissioned, following a ceremony that took place in late May.

Located on the Sangha River near the northern town of Liouesso, the facility was constructed by the China Gezhouba Group at a cost of about US$110 million. The project is intended to increase and diversify Congo’s power supply, which has risen from a cumulative 90 MW in 2000 to 214 MW with Liousseo’s completion, according to government data.

The project was awarded for construction to South Africa’s Clackson Power Co. in October 2006, at which time the plant was scheduled for completion in 2014.

Europe

Report: hydropower accounted for 15.5% of new renewable capacity in 2016

Installed capacity of renewables worldwide reached nearly 2,017 GW in 2016, with hydropower accounting for 15.5% of the new capacity, according to the Renewables 2017 Global Status Report. This report, issued by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, or REN21, says renewable power generating capacity increased about 161 GW in 2016, or nearly 9% growth over 2015.

The report says that excluding hydro, total renewable power capacity worldwide was 921 GW. This means worldwide hydro capacity (excluding pumped storage) is 1,096 GW, and the next closest technology is wind power at 487 GW. Global pumped storage capacity is counted separately and was estimated to be 150 GW at the end of 2016, with about 6.4 GW added in 2016. The report indicates, “Pumped storage is the dominant source of large-scale energy storage.”

The countries with the greatest total hydropower capacity as of the end of 2016 are China, Brazil, the United States, Canada and the Russian Federation.

The report says there was about 536 MW of ocean energy capacity by the end of 2016, primarily from two tidal barrage facilities. It says other technologies are still “largely in pre-commercial development stages.”

North America

House committee unanimously approves five hydropower-related proposals

The U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved a number of bills in early June that would extend deadlines for several individual hydropower projects. The bills, whose Senate equivalents were passed by that chamber’s Subcommittee on Energy and Natural Resources in March, include:

  • House Resolution 951, a bill to the extend the deadline for commencement of constructing a hydropower project involving the W. Kerr Scott Dam;
  • H.R. 122, a bill to reinstate and extend the deadline for constructing a hydro project involving the Jennings Randolph Dam;
  • H.R. 2292, a bill to extend a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license associated with construction of the Cannonsville Dam; and
  • H.R. 2457, a bill to extend a FERC license for the J. Bennett Johnston Waterway Dam.

The House committee also reviewed and approved H.R. 2274, which would modify portions of the Federal Power Act by extending the time for preliminary permitting from three years to four years, with an option for an additional four years should FERC approve it. The legislation would also change Section 13 to increase extensions for constructing a plant from two years to eight years.

Asia

Pakistan’s 147-MW Patrind connected to grid, generating power

The first generating unit at Pakistan’s 147-MW Patrind hydroelectric plant is now generating power and connected to the national grid, according to a statement from the National Transmission and Despatch Company Ltd.

Patrind is located on the Kunhar River and is being developed by a consortium called Star Hydro Power Ltd, which includes the Korea Water Resources Corp. and the Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co.

The project is connected to the Muzaffarabad-II grid station via a 132-kV double-circuit transmission line in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, with power to benefit people near there and Hazara. A separate 220-kV line will eventually be built to connect Patrind to the Mansehra grid station.

NTDC said the connected turbine will be “increased to its optimal level” pending the completion of testing.

Patrind is one of several NTDC hydro plants in the region nearing full completion. Also in the works are 900-MW Neelum Jhelum and 1,410-MW Tarbela 4th Extension.

Latin America

Peruvian ministry grants concession for 22-MW Nueva Granada project

The Peruvian government has granted a temporary concession to developer Hidroelectrica Nueva Granda for a hydropower plant in the Cusco region.

The group submitted a proposal for the 22-MW Nueva Granada project to Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines in April 2016. The ministry said feasibility studies must be completed within 10 months.

Located in the Peruvian Andes, the Cusco region is already home to Egemsa’s 206-MW Machu Picchu and Luz del Sur’s 98.5-MW Santa Teresa plants.

Editor’s Note: Up-to-the-minute news on the global hydro market is available on HydroWorld.com. To read more news from a specific region, visit the World Regions page at www.hydroworld.com/world-regions.html.