North America |
Right: Bonneville Dam along the Columbia River. Bonneville Power Administration recently highlighted the important role its hydropower plants had in keeping the lights on during a dangerous freezing weather event in January 2024
amongst our memberships, and share information and best practices that can help accelerate the sector’s development.”
Hydropower outlook Looking back at last year, according to a recent
forecast by the US Energy Information Administration’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), US hydropower experienced its lowest levels since 2001. However prospects are now looking up for 2024 as hydropower generation is expected to increase by 6%, accounting for 250 billion KWh of electricity. More hydro is generated in the Northwest and Rockies region than any other region of the US, and although 43% of the country’s hydropower generation occurred here in 2023, this was the region’s lowest since at least 2010. Water supply last year, particularly in Washington and Oregon, was affected by a May heatwave that quickly melted the snowpack and reduced water supply for the rest of the year. However, 106 billion KWh is expected to be produced in the Northwest and Rockies region throughout 2024, 3% more than in 2023. The largest regional increase in hydropower will
come from the Southeast region this year, expected to increase by 4 billion KWh when compared with 2023. This region includes Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina, which combined account for about 10% of total hydropower generating capacity in the US. Although California’s water supply is susceptible
to drought, as it was a very wet year last year, annual hydropower generation increased by more than 80%, from 17 billion KWh in 2022 to 31 billion KWh in 2023. STEO expects similar hydropower generation in California this year. Across the rest of the US, hydropower is expected to
increase in nearly every region, with notable increases in New York and the Central region. About 6% of US hydropower generating capacity is located in New York, and STEO expects the state’s hydropower output to increase slightly, to 29 billion KWh. Such an anticipated rise in hydropower is described as reflecting a positive outlook for the rest of the US energy sector for 2024. Lindsay Aramayo, principal contributor to this analysis, underscores the importance of closely monitoring water supply forecasts and their impact on hydropower generation which remains susceptible to year on year fluctuations.
16 | June 2024 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
Columbia River powers on Plunging temperatures across the Pacific Northwest
during January 2024 were no match for the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS), according to a statement issued by Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). Despite record-breaking energy demand and other challenges, the federal power system supported its utility customers and the region through the most intense cold snap the Northwest had seen in 20 years. “The federal dams were vital to keeping the lights on during this dangerous freezing weather event,” said Power Services Senior Vice President Suzanne Cooper. “While other generation experienced outages, federal generation operated reliably. This performance combined with activity in the wholesale power market allowed us to meet our customers’ load and help supply others during this event.” “There were challenging pockets throughout the
system caused by physical damage to equipment, but our real-time staff made adjustments to preserve reliability, and our field teams did an excellent job of safely responding to interruptions in really challenging weather conditions,” said Ricky Bustamante, acting vice president of Transmission System Operations. BPA explained that serving consistently high energy demand took significant coordination with multiple partners for both proactive planning ahead of the weather and real-time adjustments as conditions evolved. During the day, BPA ramped up the output of the FCRPS as electricity demand climbed and used power imports or purchases, and during light load hours at night it held water back to maximise power generation and meet peak demand, helping BPA to keep the lights on for the duration of the cold snap. Leading up to the event, BPA coordinated with the US Army Corps of Engineers and the US Bureau of Reclamation to delay planned maintenance, ensuring the FCRPS had as many units available as possible. Due to a low water year this year, BPA’s planned winter operations were managing the river to minimum flows. The requirement to save water above Grand Coulee for spring fish operations limited the amount of additional generation during the arctic event; however, creative management of the lower Columbia projects allowed BPA to increase generation without reducing the amount of water in Grand Coulee’s reservoir needed for springtime. Leading up to the impending cold snap, operations
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