Sustainability |
j venture with Salix, our RSK sister company,” Scott Aitken, Binnies Managing Director said. “Solutions By Nature, our complete turnkey solution, is the radical shift in helping solve the challenges we face to protect and enhance our water environment.” “There are big challenges within the water industry,” Salix Managing Director David Holland added, “and it is essential for both our clients and ourselves that we face these head on and resolve them efficiently and effectively, with industry-leading, innovative, sustainable solutions.”
Sustainability is key Hydropower’s sustainability came under the spotlight
Above: The Brownlee Dam on the Snake River on the Idaho-Oregon Border
at the UN Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow during November 2021. “Sustainability is the key issue when it comes to the utilisation of our renewable energy resources,” Iceland’s Minister of Tourism, Industry and Innovation Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir said, outlining the crucial role of hydropower in Iceland’s goal to be fully independent from fossil fuels by 2050. “We believe that the San José Declaration on Sustainable Hydropower is of great importance, and we fully support the declaration. It outlines a new progressive vision for how sustainable hydropower can, in a responsible manner, be utilised to play its best role in the clean energy transition we need to undertake,” she continued.
Launched in September 2021 following public consultation, the San José declaration puts forward a new set of fundamental principles and recommendations to shape hydropower’s contribution to global climate goals. The Nature Conservancy’s Regional Managing
Below: Whooshh Innovations worked with the Canadian government to help salmon bypass a rockslide that had dammed the entire Fraser River in British Columbia
Director for Europe Marianne Kleiberg welcomed and wanted to applaud the ambition of the declaration. “The industry has made great strides towards sustainability,” she said, adding that the declaration’s commitment not to develop new hydropower projects in World Heritage Sites was “a significant step” but suggested that maybe it could include a broader category on protected areas. “There is a need for more hydropower, we all agree on that,” she continued. “So, if we’re going to build more, how can you do that in the most sustainable way? Can we look at a master planning approach? Can you retrofit old power plants to make them more efficient and more environmentally friendly?” she asked.
2021 IHA Blue Planet Prize The International Hydropower Association’s 2021 Blue
Planet Prize for excellence in sustainable hydropower development has been awarded to NHPC Limited’s 510MW Teesta-V hydropower project in Sikkim, Northern India. The award recognises hydropower projects which
have demonstrated their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. During its detailed assessment by independent assessors using the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol from January to June 2019, Teesta-V met or exceeded international good practice across all 20 performance criteria using the Hydropower Sustainability Tools. NHPC Chairman and Managing Director Abhay Kumar Singh said it was a proud moment for NHPC
18 | December 2021 |
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and it will encourage and inspire them to achieve higher standards in sustainability for hydropower project development and operation. Dr Joerg Hartmann, lead assessor of the project
said: “This assessment helped NHPC identify strengths as well as weaknesses in the Teesta-V project. These lessons can now be applied across the company’s entire project portfolio, and because NHPC chose to be transparent with the results, across the entire Indian hydropower sector.
“In fact, some of the best practices identified in the assessment – such as conducting a follow-up Environmental Impact Assessment ten years after project commissioning, to verify initial predictions of impacts and the effectiveness of mitigation measures – should be considered by project owners everywhere.”
Outstanding Stewards The National Hydropower Association has announced
the winners of its 2021 Outstanding Stewards of America’s Waters Award. This year’s winners in the Recreational, Environmental & Historical Enhancement category included Idaho Power Company, Yuba Water Agency and Whooshh Innovations. LeRoy Coleman, NHA Director of Communications said that the companies “exemplify that no other renewable protects and preserves our natural ecosystems quite like hydropower.” Idaho Power Company developed the Niagara Springs Sturgeon Hatchery which is designed to support a novel approach to the conservation of white sturgeon populations along the Snake River in Idaho and Oregon between Brownlee Dam and Shoshone Falls Dam. It operates by receiving fertilised sturgeon eggs from natural spawning events in the Snake River and helps maintain the genetic diversity of the natural population. Yuba Water Agency partnered with local agencies
to establish the Watershed Resilience Programme to aid in reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire as a result of overly-dense forests that are more susceptible to high-severity wildfire, insects, disease and drought. The programme has reduced the associated risk to water infrastructure, water quality and post-fire cleanup of sediment and woody debris inflows. Seattle-based Whooshh Innovations worked with the Canadian government to work at a remote site where a rockslide had dammed the entire Fraser River, blocking salmon passage at Big Bar near Lillooet in British Columbia. Whooshh was able to deploy two of its new Passage Portal systems in less than three months and began safely aiding thousands of salmon over the barrier to continue their migratory journey despite being in a remote location with no roads, power or connectivity. ●
References
The Strategic Directions 2021 Water Report by Black and Veatch.
www.bv.com/resources/2021- strategic-directions-water-report?utm_ medium=email&utm_source=eloqua&utm_ campaign=2021-water-sdr&utm_ content=august-2021-newsletter-download-link
Keeping The Lights On: US Utilities’ Exposure to Physical Climate Risks. September 16, 2021.
www.spglobal.com/ratingsdirect
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