Developing new hydropower facilities can be challenging. Many potential sites are limited by factors that must be customized for each location. These include:
- Construction of the facility,
- Powerhouse design and installation, and
- Environmental mitigation measures.
The majority of new hydropower resources in the United States are smaller, of lower energy density, and expensive to develop with existing technologies. These sites include non-powered dams, new stream-reaches, and conduits. Developing new hydropower is constrained by a lack of infrastructure and limited capabilities. Developers often struggle to test and validate new technologies and designs due to limited test areas. In addition, there are uncertain and complex socio-environmental impacts associated with existing hydropower designs that sometimes require difficult or expensive mitigation measures.
WPTO's Low-Impact Hydropower Growth Activity Area aims to address these challenges through the following approaches:
- Enable new technology development for both existing water infrastructure and new stream-reach applications that incorporate ecological and social objectives,
- Leverage advancements in manufacturing and materials to dramatically lower costs of components and system designs for the hydropower industry,
- Support the testing of new technologies and development of necessary testing infrastructure, and
- Explore opportunities for new development in which hydropower is a critical enabler of a larger suite of benefits.
Featured Projects
WPTO's Hydropower e-newsletter features news on R&D and applied science to advance sustainable hydropower and pumped-storage technologies.