Global Headlines

Asia/Oceania

Hydro Project Activity: US$88 million awarded to rehabilitate 126-MW Qairokkum in Tajikistan

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Green Climate Fund are providing a US$88 million financing package to complete rehabilitation of the 126-MW Qairokkum (also called Kayrakkum or Kairakkum) hydro plant.

The rehab will support Tajikistan improving its electricity supply, EBRD says. Work to be performed includes rehab of the concrete dam works and installation of hydraulic steel components, turbines and electromechanical equipment for the four turbine-generator units.

The package consists of a US$38 million loan from EBRD and a US$27 million loan and US$23 million grant from GCF, a financial mechanism under the UNFCCC that helps fund climate finance investment in low-emission, climate-resilient development in developing countries.

Qairokkum is owned by state-owned utility Barki Tojik. The plant, on the Syr Darya River, was commissioned in 1959. This rehab will increase its installed capacity to 174 MW, from 126 MW.

Europe

Hydro Project Activity: Motor-generator rehab contract awarded for 1,290-MW Vianden pumped storage

Voith has been awarded a contract to modernize a motor-generator at the 1,290-MW Vianden pumped-storage plant on the border between Germany and Luxembourg.

Voith’s work includes the design, calculation, construction, delivery and assembly of a new motor-generator.

The original motor-generator was installed in 1976. It will be replaced by a new synchronous motor-generator fitted with a starting frequency converter that will increase potential capacity of the unit by about 7%, according to a press release. New capacity of the unit will be 217 MW. In addition, the new motor-generator will be able to respond faster to changes in the load requirements from the power grid. Work on the machine is scheduled to be complete by 2021.

Vianden is owned by Societe Electrique de l’Our S.A. and is marketed and operated by RWE Generation. Vianden contains 11 generating sets and began operating in 1964. It is used as a flexible electricity storage system and to regulate the grid as part of the transition process to renewable energies, Voith says.

Africa

Hydro Project Activity: Seabased signs deal to install 100-MW wave energy park in Ghana

Ghanaian renewables developer TC’s Energy has signed a contract with Sweden’s Seabased for the design, manufacture and installation of a 100-MW wave energy project off the coast of Ada Foah.

The deal will contribute toward the TC Energy’s 1,000-MW power purchase agreement with the Electric Co. of Ghana Ltd.

“This is a very exciting day for Seabased, and one both companies have been preparing for diligently for years,” Sebased Chief Executive Officer Oivind Magnussen said.

Seabased’s wave energy converters rely on the kinetic motion of the ocean to move buoys moored to linear generators on the sea floor, thus generating electricity.

Seabased was founded in 2001 and has since generated energy using its devices at the Sotenas Wave Energy Plant off Sweden’s west coast.

Latin America

Brazil’s Cemig delays sale of Belo Monte shares

Companhia Energetica de Minas Gerais (Cemig) will delay the sale of its shares in the 11.2-GW Belo Monte plant until next year, per a plan outlined by the Brazilian power group.

Cemig announced last June that it would divest about US$2.7 billion in assets in an effort to cut its debt, with the company’s shares in the 27-MW Cachoeirao, 20-MW Pipoca and 25-MW Paracambi small hydro plants – alongside a stake in consortium Norte Energia, which operates Belo Monte – on the block.

Cemig, owned by Brazilian state Minas Gerais, would make about $420 million from selling its 12% share of Norte Energia.

Norte Energia’s other stakeholders are Cia Energetica de Minas Gerais SA, Light SA, Vale SA, Siderurgica Norte Brasil SA, J. Malucelli Energia SA and pension funds Petros Fundacao Petrobras and Funcef Fundacao. The group holds a 50.2% interest in Belo Monte, but announced it was looking to sell in February 2017.

North America

Hydro Project Activity: Snohomish County PUD cancels plans to develop 30-MW Sunset Falls project

The Snohomish County Public Utility District in the U.S. state of Washington has cancelled its plans to build the 30-MW Sunset Falls project on the Skykomish River, saying that over the next 10 years it will not need the additional energy the project will provide.

Snohomish County PUD’s board of commissioners directed the staff not to pursue a final federal license for this project, officially known as the Sunset Fish Passage and Energy Project, after a review of its integrated resource plan (IRP). This plan has forecasted that on an annual basis, over the next 10 years, due to expected energy conservation, the Sunset hydro project power will not be needed.

“Our considerable success with energy conservation … has helped minimize the need for new energy resources,” said PUD Commission President Kathy Vaughn. She says Snohomish PUD “could seek out additional energy resources in the mid-2020s time period” … “if higher growth occurs over the longer term, 10 years or beyond.”