| World news Latin America/Caribbean


Sustainable hydropower ‘essential’ for Latin American and Caribbean clean energy goals


Hydropower has a key role to play in helping Latin America and the Caribbean meet its clean energy goals, the International Hydropower Association (IHA) and the International American Development Bank (IADB) have declared, highlighting actions that need to be taken by policymakers to maximise opportunities. During a roundtable event hosted by the two organisations and


attended by 44 participants from 19 countries, the IHA and IADB said sustainable hydropower is and will continue to be an essential part of the solution for the region. The event explored the incentives and regulations that would be required to ensure that enough private and public investment is attracted for socially and environmentally sustainable hydropower, to continue reliably decarbonizing LAC power grids as?increasing amounts of wind and solar are deployed. The roundtable made the following observations for policymakers


in the region: ● Plan for low carbon grids now. ● Incentivise flexible electricity market arrangements. ● Make the most of existing infrastructure. ● Ensure robust sustainability standards using the Hydropower Sustainability Standard certification process of standards of International Development Financial Institutions, such as those of the IDB Group.


“Socially and environmentally-sound built hydroelectricity must play an important role in Latin America, complementing in a sustainable way the insertion of wind and solar energy,” said Marcelino Madrigal, Energy Division Chief at IDB. “With these three elements, together with greater regional integration, Latin America and the Caribbean can reach the goal of 70% renewable electricity by 2030.”


“Latin America is sitting on a huge opportunity for decarbonising electricity grids, for sustainable growth, and for climate resilience – don’t let sustainable hydropower become the forgotten giant of renewables,” added Eddie Rich, CEO of IHA. “Together water, wind and sun can get the job done.” Almost half of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)’s electricity comes from hydropower. As well as delivering essential low carbon baseload power and energy security, hydropower provides flexibility, reliability and energy storage services to support and balance variable renewables such as wind and solar power. In those countries where a decarbonised electricity grid has been achieved significant amounts of hydropower are part of the energy mix. As hydropower infrastructure ages, appropriate incentives need to be put in place for its modernization and development.


Global


Floating solar installations at hydro projects should increase, suggests research Developers of floating solar photovoltaics (FSPVs) should collaborate with hydropower generators to deploy more FSPVs on reservoirs, new analysis by Frost & Sullivan suggests. The analysis - Technological Advancements in Floating Solar Technologies – says that the conventional land-based solar power business is being challenged by the rising prices of land acquisition brought on by the growing population. As a result, floating solar technology manufacturers have made significant investments in research and development (R&D) work to improve floating support materials, cutting-edge designs, mooring and anchoring technologies, and sophisticated sun-tracking systems to combat land scarcity issues. “Floating solar will increase in value as


land scarcity-related issues become more prominent,” said Paritosh Doshi, Energy & Environment Sr. Research Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “Additionally, floating solar power plants significantly reduce evaporation on bodies of water, which will drive the adoption of floating solar during the next decade as a technology that achieves sustainable energy production while conserving water. “Floating solar involves expensive infrastructure comprising floating support and mooring and anchoring systems for transporting the electricity that plants


generate to onshore areas. This pushes companies to minimize such costs by collaborating with hydropower plant operators, as it will allow floating solar plants to utilize the transmission infrastructure used by hydropower plants.” To tap into the growth prospects of floating solar technologies, the analysis says market participants should work more with hydropower generators to deploy their technology as this provides several advantages for both hydropower and the FSPV projects Other suggestions include concentrating on the regions with high solar irradiance, as FSPV plants will achieve a higher return on investment in these regions than in other regions; and developing hybrid ocean energy technologies that integrate floating solar, wind energy, and wave energy systems to offer better economics and more consistent power generation.


Pakistan WAPDA to add 10,000MW of hydropower by 2030 The Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has announced it will add as much as 10,000MW of hydroelectricity to the installed power generation capacity of the country by 2030 through the phased completion of its under-construction projects. As a result, WAPDA’s hydro generation will double to about 20,000MW from 9500MW, with gross water storage capacity in Pakistan


also enhanced by another 12 MAF. WAPDA Chairman, Engineer Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani (Retd), made the announcement while addressing the 1st Conference of General Managers and Project Directors. The two-day conference was held at WAPDA House to review progress on hydropower projects currently under construction, and discuss the effective implementation of these projects, which included the Diamer Basha Dam, Dasu Hydropower Project, Mohmand Dam, Tarbela 5th Extension, K-IV, Nai Gaj Dam, Kurram Tangi Dam, and Kachhi Canal etc. Addressing the conference, the Chairman said that WAPDA is one of the only organisation in the world simultaneously constructing large numbers of water and hydropower projects. He said that this is a mammoth task, which has brought challenges with regards to construction schedules. He urged the General Managers and Projects Directors to work towards completing projects on time.


Canada TransAlta takes 50% stake in planned pumped storage plant TransAlta Corporation is to acquire a 50% interest in the Tent Mountain Renewable Energy Complex, an early-stage 320MW pumped storage hydropower development project, located in southwest Alberta, currently owned by Montem Resources Limited. Under a deal announced last week,


TransAlta and Montem have agreed to form www.waterpowermagazine.com | March 2023 | 5


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