Development opportunities |
j “The transfer tunnel and its associated systems will bolster both quality of life and economic activities in the region. With our sustainable solutions we are delighted to contribute to the pursuit of creating positive impact towards a sustainable world, where people and nature have a future,” underlines Dr Beau Freeman, Tractebel Department Head of Sustainable Water and Land Resources Development.
Texas dam project Granite, one of the largest diversified construction and
materials companies in the US, has been awarded a US$160 million contract for the Leon Hurse Dam project in Texas by Upper Trinity Regional Water District. The Leon Hurse Dam project is a component of the overall Lake Ralph Hall project which will be one of Texas’ newest lakes, and one of the state’s biggest water projects in the last 30 years. The project will provide crucial water for an area whose population is projected to increase nearly fivefold in the next 50 years. Granite is responsible for building a new earthen dam, and pertinent structural, electrical, mechanical, and architectural facilities. “Granite has a long history of collaboration and
experience working on complex dam projects in Texas and across the US,” said Granite Regional Vice President Matt Shepherd. “Granite’s work on the Leon Hurse Dam will continue our role of constructing important dam structures and water resource projects in Texas.” The scope of work is comprised of the construction of a new 3.7km long, 22m tall zoned earthen embankment dam including a 215m long, 31.6m tall roller compacted concrete and cast-in-place (CIP) concrete spillway. Construction began in June 2021.
Progress at Hatta Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)
announced in September 2021 that the 250MW Hatta pumped storage project is 29% complete. The first 37m high RCC wall is now finished at
Below: Hatta Dam in Dubai
the project’s upper dam which is being built in the mountain. The station – the first of its kind in the region – will also use water in the Hatta Dam and have a storage capacity of 1500MWh, and a life span of up to 80 years.
“The pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant in Hatta helps achieve the vision…
..to comprehensively expand sustainable development in Dubai,” explained HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA. “We have a clear strategy and specific objectives to increase the use of clean and renewable energy in Dubai’s energy mix. This will achieve the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to provide 75% of Dubai’s total power capacity from clean energy sources by 2050.” So far the project has completed 4.6 million safe working hours without injury.
Austrian pumped storage GE Renewable Energy announced in May 2021 that
it has been selected by the Austrian National Railway Operator, ÖBB, to supply and commission two 85MW variable speed pumped storage turbines for the new Tauernmoos Pumped Hydro Storage Power Plant located in the Stubachtal Valley/Austria. As part of the project, GE Renewable Energy will be responsible for the design, engineering, model testing, manufacturing, supply, erection supervision and the commissioning of the turbines and generators. The company’s scope also includes power transformers and power frequency converters as well as part of the balance of plant.
Pascal Radue, CEO of GE Renewable Energy Hydro Solutions, said: “We are delighted to join forces and help ÖBB Infrastructure AG demonstrate the role that hydro storage solutions can play in accelerating the energy transition.”
Energy storage tested for small hydro US utility Idaho Falls Power and the Idaho National
Laboratory (INL) carried out tests in April 2021 to see how the city’s hydropower plants can be made more stable and responsive during emergencies. The tests involved integrating energy storage and modifying the control systems to help them balance changes in electricity quickly. The city of Idaho Falls owns five power plants on the
Snake River, from the Upper Power Plant north of the city to the Gem State Dam just to the south, and these generate enough power to meet about one-third of the city’s needs.
Idaho Falls first reached out to INL after an outage in early December 2013 left about 53,000 southeast Idaho residents in sub-zero cold for three hours. With several municipalities scrambling to return service to their customers, Idaho Falls Power was ordered to shed 35MW in 30 minutes.
In 2016, Idaho Falls and INL began investigating
“black start” and “islanding” capabilities. By themselves, small hydropower plants like the one in Idaho Falls can’t restart a localised grid during a widespread outage but, with energy storage, these plants may be able to provide adequate frequency and voltage stabilisation to avoid disruption in customer service. “It’s exciting to show how innovation can help these small hydropower plants serve Idaho Falls residents in a new way,” said Thomas Mosier, INL’s energy systems group lead. “The grid is changing very rapidly. The tests performed this week demonstrated that small hydropower plants like Idaho Falls, combined with innovative controls and integrated energy storage
16 | October 2021 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
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