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power to meet the growing domestic demand in Mozambique and transform the country into a regional energy hub. The rest of the project’s output is expected to be exported to neighbouring countries, including South Africa, where demand for clean energy is high. The project will also accelerate the transition to clean energy to combat climate change in Southern Africa.
US
NYPA allocates hydropower to General Motors plant The New York Power Authority (NYPA) has approved a low-cost hydropower award to General Motors Components Holdings, a subsidiary of General Motors, that will support nearly 1450 jobs – 200 newly created—at its plant in Lockport. The Niagara hydropower will support a $137 million investment by the firm, which is subsidiary of General Motors, that will enable the production of critical components for electric motors at its Western New York location. Governor Hochul announced the expansion earlier this year along with additional state support from the Empire State Development Corporation. The NYPA board approved the 3900kW
hydropower allocation to GM for its expansion project, which includes the construction of a new building and the purchase and installation of machinery used in the production of the stator module – a key component in an electric motor. The project is expected to complete in 2025. The Lockport facility will continue to build a variety of components that support GM’s current truck and SUV production. The location currently produces radiators, condensers, heater cores, evaporators, heating and cooling modules, oil coolers and other components used in a variety of GM trucks. The GM application was considered under
the Green Jobs Evaluation Incentive Plan approved by the NYPA trustees in December 2020. The plan allows for the consideration of the impact of green jobs on the state’s economy when evaluating applications for NYPA power. “Low-cost hydropower allocations from the Niagara Power Project continue to drive the advancement of New York’s clean energy economy,” said John R. Koelmel, NYPA chairman and Buffalo resident. “This transformative investment from General Motors, a long-time NYPA customer, will create 200 good-paying jobs and accelerate our nation’s transition to sustainable methods of transportation.” General Motors Components Holdings was established in 2009 – the location in Lockport, while under previous ownership, has received NYPA hydropower since 1961. GM’s Lockport site was already receiving nearly 18,000 kW
of low-cost hydropower in support of their existing workforce. Low-cost Niagara hydropower is available for companies within a 30-mile radius of the Power Authority’s Niagara Power Project and is linked to tens of thousands of existing jobs in the region.
US
B.F. Sisk Dam safety project breaks ground The US Bureau of Reclamation kicked off its 120th anniversary in mid-June at San Luis Reservoir with the groundbreaking of the B.F. Sisk Dam Safety Modification Project. The billion-dollar effort received a $100 million investment earlier this year from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This is USBR’s largest project under the 1978 Safety of Dams Act and when complete will modernize the dam to reduce risks due to seismic events.
“B.F. Sisk Dam and San Luis Reservoir
are representative of Reclamation’s legacy of effective resource management,” said Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton. “The work being done here today – funded by the transformative Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – is emblematic of our commitment to modernize water infrastructure. So, it is fitting to break ground here once again and invest in our infrastructure and in the future of California.” Construction has now begun to retrofit the 3.5-mile-long B.F. Sisk Dam to protect it from future seismic events and for public safety. Construction will include stability berms and other engineered features. The dam impounds San Luis Reservoir, the nation’s largest off stream reservoir, which provides water for farms, wildlife refuges, and Californians served by the federal Central Valley Project and State Water Project. “We are thrilled to celebrate the anniversary of the Bureau of Reclamation today in the same footprint where President John F. Kennedy dedicated San Luis Reservoir sixty years ago,” said Reclamation Regional Director Ernest Conant. “President Kennedy stressed the uniqueness of the project in 1962 due to the federal, state, and local partnerships that came together to make the original project happen. These collaborations continue today and enable Reclamation’s California-Great Basin Region to make important strides in water management especially in light of changes brought on by climate change.”
UK
Britain and Norway partner for African hydropower UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that British International Investment (BII) is to invest up to £160
million into a joint venture between Norfund and Scatec that will help develop Africa’s hydropower sector, with Norfund committing a further US$100 million. “It’s great to announce that BII is putting 160 million pounds into hydropower in Africa, creating 180,000 jobs,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson when announcing the deal at the Commonwealth Business Forum in Rwanda. “I see a fantastic future for all of us in these initiatives. We want to be the partner of choice for our African friends as you transform millions of lives.”
Last year Norfund sold hydropower developer SN Power to Scatec, with part of the deal being that Norfund retained 49% ownership in the company’s portfolio in Africa as a joint venture. Now BII, the UK development finance institution, is joining the partnership.
Norfund has been developing hydropower since the fund’s inception. This will however be the largest investment in hydropower in BII’s 74-year history, with up to $200m of capital committed over the next several years. Norfund is seeding the partnership with their existing share in their joint venture with Scatec and further capital commitments of up to $100m over the next several years. The investment extends and compliments BII’s and Norfund’s existing commitments and partnerships to powering Africa, through Globeleq, a 2.3GW IPP company in which BII and Norfund are shareholders, and the joint investment the two development finance institutions have in H1 Capital – a South-African black-owned and managed renewables investment and development company.
Norfund and BII now together hold a 49%
stake in Scatec’s African hydropower portfolio, which includes a mixture of operating assets as well as a number of assets under development, including the proposed 205MW Ruzizi III hydropower plant, which will provide power to Rwanda, Burundi and DRC, the 120MW Volobe hydropower plant in Madagascar and the 350MW Mpatamanga project in Malawi among others.
Pakistan Karot project starts commercial operation The 720MW Karot hydropower project in Pakistan – the first hydropower tie-up developed by the China Three Gorges Corp under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – began commercial operation on Wednesday this week. Located on the Jhelum River in Pakistan’s
eastern Punjab province, the project started construction in April 2015. It is the fourth stage of the five cascade hydropower stations planned for the Jhelum River. The project is expected to generate some 3.2 billion kW/h of clean electricity per year.
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