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production facilities in both Wisconsin and Michigan within the next few years. All plants provide land space to accommodate green hydrogen facilities or increase capacities by the automation and modernization of the facilities with newer hydro turbines and other technologies that would allow Charbone USA to produce power at one end and then to transmit its own power via utilities’ power lines, subject to a transmission fee, to a hydrogen production facility in a large industrial or urban center close to end users of such hydrogen. The Northwoods management and operation


teams have agreed to continue to perform their duties under Charbone’s ownership and will work and assist Charbone’s engineering team to implement optimisation, modernization, and automation projects at each of the plants. “This acquisition consolidates Charbone’s


strategy into the Midwest. These hydropower plants are well located to produce green hydrogen and deliver it to Detroit, the heart of automotive construction in North America, which is adopting more and more hydrogen technologies,” said Dave B. Gagnon, Chairman and CEO of Charbone. “Charbone’s strategy to produce its green hydrogen from modular and scalable facilities has been allowing us to discuss directly with local utilities and governments about distributed generation interconnection, rather than increasing costs for interconnection on transmission or distribution networks and adding costs to local utilities and customers”.


Pakistan


Mohmand Dam Project likely to be completed in 2026 says WAPDA The 800MW Mohmand dam project on the River Swat in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province is likely to be completed in 2026, WAPDA has announced, confirming that construction is underway on all 11 sites at the project. During a recent site visit, Chairman WAPDA Engineer Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani (Retd) was told that the diversion system is scheduled for completion in November this year, with the project looking likely to complete in 2026. The Chairman reviewed construction work on


different sites, which included the re-regulation pond, main dam, spillway, diversion tunnels, access tunnel, power intake, power house, switch yard and irrigation system etc. He was briefed that most of the damage caused to the diversion system during last summer’s flood were repaired by December. At present, the construction work is progressing ahead on all 11 sites of the project, day and night on the sites where feasible.


Mohmand Dam is a multi- purpose project which will store 1.2 MAF of water and help mitigate floods in Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera. Besides supplementing 160,000 acres of existing land, it will also irrigate 18,237 acres of new land in Mohmand and Charsadda. Installed generation capacity of Mohmand Dam is 800MW. It will contribute 2.86 billion units


of low-cost and environment friendly hydel electricity per annum to the National Grid. The project will also provide 300 million gallons water per day to Peshawar for drinking purpose. Estimated annual benefits of the Project stands at Rs. 51.6 billion. A sum of Rs. 4.5 billion has been earmarked for Confidence Building Measures (CBM) in the project area for socio- economic development of the locals.


Austria


Borealis and Verbund in long-term hydropower purchase agreement Borealis and Verbund have agreed on a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for the supply of electricity from two of Verbund’s hydropower plants on the Danube to Borealis’ location in Schwechat, Austria. The deal, which starts In February, will see


around 220GWh of electricity delivered, which will aid in Borealis’ goal of operating its polyolefin and hydrocarbon production facilities entirely with renewable energy by 2030. Verbund will supply the hydroelectricity from its Aschach and Abwinden-Asten hydropower plants. This long-term agreement follows the


recently announced joint project to construct a photovoltaic facility, which will also be implemented in Schwechat. “The ambitious sustainability targets of our


Borealis Strategy 2030 are moving ever closer within reach, not least thanks to our cross- sector partnership with Verbund,” explained Thomas Gangl, CEO of Borealis. “Thanks to the approximately 2,200 GWh that will be supplied at our location in Schwechat in the next ten years under this PPA, we are ideally on course to achieve our goal of procuring 100% of the electricity from renewable sources by 2030. These measures show that we are constantly striving to find new ways to make our life even more sustainable.” “We are very happy about our long-term


strategic partnership with Borealis. Our goal at Verbund is to use our know-how and experience in the field of renewable energies to accompany our partners on the path to decarbonisation,” added Michael Strugl, CEO of Verbund. “The only way to achieve ambitious climate and energy targets leads via innovation, close collaboration and persistence. Together with our partner Borealis, we are advancing the energy transition in Austria and across Europe.”


UK


Generation Licence breaches cost Drax Pumped Storage Ltd £6.12 million


Drax Pumped Storage Limited has admitted to an inadvertent breach of its Electricity Generation Licence for Cruachan Power station in Scotland, UK, and has agreed to pay £6.12 million into a Voluntary Energy Redress Fund, energy regulator Ofgem has said. Drax secured excessive Balancing Mechanism (BM) payments from National Grid Electricity


System Operator (NGESO), during periods of what is known as ‘transmission constraint’, said Ofgem. The company has assured the regulator that it has revised the way it calculates its pricing, to prevent this from happening again. Ofgem said Drax secured excessive payments between 1 January 2019 and 31 July 2022 by submitting excessively expensive bids to turn down its generation in the BM, and as a result of Ofgem’s compliance work,


admitted to having inadvertently breached its Generation Licence, specifically the Transmission Constraint Licence Condition (TCLC). The TCLC prohibits generators from being paid, or seeking to be paid, an excessive amount by NGESO during times of transmission system constraint. Cathryn Scott, Director of Enforcement and


Emerging Issues at Ofgem said: “Protecting consumers is a priority for Ofgem, and we will continue to monitor the wholesale energy markets in Great Britain and ensure their integrity on behalf of energy users. “This enforcement action sends a strong


signal to all generators that they cannot obtain or seek to obtain excessive benefits during transmission constraint periods. If they do, we have the powers to intervene and we are ready to use them.”


In the period since Ofgem raised the matter, Drax has fully cooperated with Ofgem. Drax has proactively sought to rectify the matter, including agreeing to make a payment to the redress fund and assuring Ofgem that it has implemented a new cost-based pricing methodology designed to reflect the costs and benefits to Drax of curtailing its generation Ofgem has now closed this issue, and the £6.12 million will be paid into the Voluntary Energy Redress Fund, which will be driven directly into supporting vulnerable consumers with their energy, as well as invest in innovation projects and carbon emission reductions.


US Hydro powers bitcoin mining facility in Wisconsin Sustainable bitcoin mining platform Sazmining has launched its first hydroelectric-powered bitcoin mining facility in Wisconsin, US, with the facility houses 350 mining rigs with 24/7 on-site security and solar-powered backups. Sazmining said that this is a definitive proof-of- concept to show that, when done responsibly, bitcoin mining can not only greatly minimize any potential impact on the environment, but can also be fully carbon-neutral. “We are incredibly proud to be at the forefront of the green energy revolution in the bitcoin mining industry,” said Will Szamosszegi, CEO of Sazmining. “Our new facility provides a carbon- neutral source of electricity for our mining operations and is a model for how mining can be managed sustainably as well as a testament to our commitment to make a positive impact on our environment and the economy.”


www.waterpowermagazine.com | February 2023 | 7


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