Recently in the Hydroelectric Category
Mar 05 2010
Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:
SolarCity, a solar power system design, financing and installation company, has secured an additional $90 million fund from a unit of U.S. Bancorp to finance expansion of its solar projects in the western states. In January, Pacific Venture Capital, a subsidiary of PG&E Corp., announced $60 million in financing for SolarCity installations mainly in California with some in Arizona and Colorado. SolarCity also serves Oregon and Texas.
Former Edison International CEO John Bryson plugged some green startup companies at the U.C. Berkeley Energy Symposium on Thursday: Santa Monica-based Coda Automotive, maker of electric vehicles in China; smart-grid wireless company On-Ramp Wireless, of San Diego; and Ostendo, maker of solid state lighting displays based in Carlsbad, California. Bryson, a member of Coda's board of directors, was a co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council and president of the California Public Utilities Commission.
Greenest city in the world? Reykjavik, Iceland, tops a list for sustainability, according to Global Green Blog at GlobalPost. Reykjavik runs entirely on green power, including geothermal and hydroelectricity, and the city's transit system moves people around on hydrogen buses. Light-rail and bicycle leader Portland, Oregon, comes second, followed by Curitiba, Brazil, where sheep trim the parks; Malmo, Sweden, developing sustainable neighborhoods; and Vancouver, British Columbia, where 90 percent of its electricity comes from hydropower.
Jan 25 2010
Here at PG&E, we (like most Californians) have a love-hate attitude toward the rain. Like bitter medicine, it's not enjoyable in the moment, but deep down we know it's good for us.
Wind-driven precipitation knocks trees into our power lines, topples power poles and floods our facilities, creating outages and public safety risks. In fact, last week's storms impacted service to 1.5 million customers and damaged more than 500 poles, 250 miles of electrical lines and 800 transformers.
About the only good thing we can say during a storm is it brings out the best in our heroic repair crews and our customers, who (mostly) suffer service disruptions with patience and understanding.
But come spring and summer, if we haven't had enough rain, we at PG&E start to miss the clean, efficient hydropower driven by all the water in our mountain rivers and reservoirs. We also miss the wet ground that keeps vegetation from drying out and becoming tinder for giant wildfires that threaten our facilities and our customers' homes and businesses.
Before the onslaught of storms last week, California was headed into another drought year--its third in a row.
Just before the storms hit the state, the Department of Water Resources painted a bleak picture of continuing drought conditions:
This year's precipitation as of mid-January 2009 is well below average, with 20-30" of additional rain and snow needed to produce average runoff. The previous two water years, October 1, 2006 thru September 30, 2008 left a deficit of nearly 28" of precipitation in the Northern and Central Sierra, source of much of our water supply. . . . Statewide average reservoir levels are 68% of average for this date. Last year at this time they were at 80% of average.
And the bottom line: "As of January 1, 2009, the statewide runoff is forecast to be dry to critically dry this year."
The result of the prolonged drought was to reduce PG&E's hydropower generation from 13,800 gigawatt-hours in 2006 to 7,700 GWh in 2007 and 7,900 GWh in 2008. (Preliminary data suggest that 2009 was a little better, but still far below normal.) This loss of about 7 percent of our total generation had to be offset by sharply higher power purchases, mostly from natural gas-fired generators, which increased costs to customers and greenhouse gas emissions as well.
Fortunately, this picture brightened last week even as the skies darkened. According to PG&E's hydro experts:
The recent wave of severe winter storms have produced significant amounts of snow and precipitation in PG&E service areas and hydro watersheds. As a result the cumulative precipitation picture has improved substantially: The California statewide average snow water content increased from 79 percent of normal on 1/7/2010 to 107 percent of normal on 1/21/2010; PG&E's hydro-weighted precipitation, from 15 representative stations, increased from 68 percent of normal to 91 percent of normal to date. If the wet trend continues, it could lead to better-than-average annual hydro generation year.
So as you struggle with your umbrella, or sit in the dark for a few hours, take heart in knowing that all this rain may end up saving you money and sparing the environment.
Jan 21 2009
The view from my window is not pretty today: cloudy, gray and damp. It would actually be a lot prettier, to my eye, if it were pouring rain.
That's because the state desperately needs more precipitation to break two years of drought, going on three. Unless we see a dramatic change in the weather, we'll likely suffer another rash of early season fires that scorch forests, grasslands and homes.
Residential and agricultural water users will feel the pinch of tighter rationing. Already, 21 water agencies across the state have imposed water rationing, and more will surely follow.
We'll also have less water for hydro generation, forcing PG&E and other utilities to rely more on fossil fuels for power. That will mean more greenhouse gas emissions and (other things being equal) higher rates. (Last year the utility's hydropower output was only about three-quarters of normal.)
One drought year is manageable. But water runoff has been low in California the previous two years--only 53 percent of average in 2006-7 and 60 percent of average in 2007-8. At the end of December, Oroville Reservoir was at the lowest level in history, and other major reservoirs are desperately low as well.
With the dry start to 2008-9, simply working our way back to an average runoff year would take another 10 feet to 20 feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada, according to the state Department of Water Resources.
The good news, says Gary Freeman, PG&E's principal hydrologist, is that weather fronts should bring some precipitation to northern and central California almost every day from now to the end of January.
The bad news is that "the amount of wetness will probably be small," Freeman says. "These storm fronts won't amount to much."
With half of our precipitation season yet to run, there's still a chance of turning the current dry spell into a normal or even wet year. But the probability of that happening is receding every day.
"Even if precipitation is normal going forward, we'll only end up at 80 percent of normal for the year," Freeman says. "That's pretty dry."
Jan 02 2009
Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy caught our attention this week:
- California is beginning the new year with a requirement for new 2009 cars sold in the state to display a sticker that shows information on the vehicle's environmental impact. The sticker will provide a global warming score and a smog score on a 1-to-10 scale, with 10 the best score and 5 the average. The California Air Resources Board has set up a consumer Website with more information on the cleanest and most efficient cars.
- Toyota Motor Corp. is said to be secretly developing a solar-powered car. Toyota is working on an electric vehicle that will get some of its power from solar cells equipped on the vehicle, and that can be recharged with electricity generated from solar panels on the roofs of homes, Japan's Nikkei newspaper says. Toyota also plans a car powered totally by solar cells on the vehicle.
- Two electric utilities in Europe are offering their customers plans to purchase carbon-free electricity generated at nuclear power plants. Germany's R.W.E. utility is marketing a purchase plan that promises customers 70 percent of their power will come from nuclear generation with the remainder from hydroelectricity and renewable energies. Finland's Fortum power company offers two plans for business customers in Finland and Sweden -- Fortum Carbon Free, a mix of nuclear and hydropower, and Fortum Renewable, a blend of renewable resources.
Dec 18 2008
After a long brown spell, California ski resorts are once again covered in white and looking forward to earning some real green over the holidays. For PG&E and its customers, recent precipitation--and the promise of more to come--bodes well for supplies of clean, inexpensive hydropower next year.
Though it didn't last long, recent cold storms dumped piles of hail on San Francisco and snow on Berkeley's Tilden Park, both memorable events. Up in the Sierra, major resorts now report two-to-three feet of snow.
"What a phenomenal change one storm has made for the mountain," said a spokeswoman for Alpine Meadows and Homewood Mountain ski resorts. "It is wonderful and humbling how quickly Mother Nature can move in and create something amazing. We couldn't have received this kind of snow at a better time."
Even so, the snow that provides so much of California's water is still running only 35 percent of normal--and only 19 percent of normal in Northern California. That leaves a lot of catching up to do.
At PG&E, principal hydrologist Gary Freeman watches snow and rainfall forecasts closely, since one of his jobs is to help the utility plan its use of clean hydroelectric resources. He says the watersheds that feed PG&E's hydro system stand a good chance of beating the drought after two years of sub-par precipitation.
"Next week we could get hit by some very wet storms tapping into subtropical moisture--what we used to call the Pineapple Express," Freeman said. "We should see lots of snow and rain right around Christmas, which will fill some of our lower-elevation reservoirs and build some snowpack. We could have another subtropical storm after that, so California could be back to normal or even wet by mid-January."
Full reservoirs will allow the utility to substitute hydropower for natural gas-fired generation, helping the environment and lowering costs. The only downside is likely to be the landslides and mud flows in watersheds laid bare by this summer's widespread and intense fires.
Freeman notes that PG&E's service territory is seeing relatively less snow and more rain than it did 30 years ago as a result of California's warming climate. The snowpack is also melting two-to-three weeks earlier. So far, that's not a problem. But if warming continues apace, heavy runoff from fast-melting snows could create potential operational challenges.
President-elect Obama's appointee as secretary of energy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Director Steven Chu, commented last year on the longrun impact of climate change on California's snowpack: "I think that's a much more serious problem than the gradually rising sea level, unless Greenland just completely melts," Chu said. "This is a huge water supply concern for California and the Southwest."
May 24 2008
Okay, so it's not a slogan for the visitor bureau, but my Reno Gazette-Journal today reported that this year's runoff has hit peak and will be on a diminishing trend from now on.
I'm not sure if this forecast took into account the May snow I drove through on my way here or the cloudy skies above, but certainly a few flakes has little effect on a 72-mile, 1,000-ft-deep lake.
Aside from being a disappointment for Lake Tahoe, with river runoff projections as low as 38 percent, this will undoubtedly impact hydroelectric capacity as we look into summer. Apparently, last week's heatwave burned right through the snowpack, causing a quick and final rise in stream and river levels before they begin their steady drop with rising summer temperatures. It seems that the optimism of early winter's heavy snows went down the proverbial drain.
As for Tahoe, the Federal Water Master's Office in Reno reports that, after the couple of inches that should come with this weekend's thunderstorms (great), the rate of lake evaporation will exceed river and stream runoff, and Tahoe will begin to drop. A sad reality, though definitely not a first for this Cal-Neva treasure.
May 23 2008
NPR caught my ear this morning with an interview with reporter Kate Golden at The Juneau Empire in Alaska's capital. Juneau residents and the city have launched an aggressive effort to save energy in the wake of an avalanche in April that toppled the transmission grid linking the city to a hydroelectric dam 40 miles away.
| Listen Now | 4min 30sec | NPR, Morning Edition |
Diesel generators are running to keep the lights on but energy bills will soar on higher fuel costs while repairs are made over an expected three months. So the people of Juneau responded quickly to an urgent financial signal and discovered conservation in a big way: there was a run on clothespins to hang out the wash to dry, energy-efficient light bulbs sold out, stores and offices dimmed the lights, TVs went dark, and families dined by candlelight. The result: electrical usage plummeted as much as 30 percent within a week of the avalanche.
"Turn off, turn down, unplug," said Sarah Lewis, chairwoman of the Juneau Commission on Sustainability. "That's what everyone is doing and being vigilant about and commenting when others are not."
The city of Juneau is helping low-income residents with energy costs and the governor has declared an "economic injury" which could bring in funds from the federal Small Business Administration. And the repairs may go faster than expected: reporter Golden told NPR the first transmission tower was likely to go up this afternoon.
May 22 2008
A report released yesterday by the Energy Information Administration paints an unfortunate image of the state of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions - they are going up faster than the rate of electricity generation.
According to the report, emissions from the electricity sector rose by three percent as electricity generation rose by 2.5 percent. This means that U.S. electricity generation was actually dirtier in 2007 than in the previous year.
The EIA states that the relative increase in emissions reflects a decrease in hydroelectric generation due in large part to droughts, forcing utilities to use natural gas, a cleaner form of fossil generation than coal, but still one with a carbon footprint. Natural gas produces about 40 percent less CO2 than coal.
A more frightening finding in the report is that the vast majority of this increase did not come from industry, but from households. According to Environmental Capital, U.S. industry continued to cut emissions, which it has done since 1990. Households, on the other hand, increased emissions by 4.4%. The EIA points out that this reflects the fact that more Americans are enjoying a higher standard of living, complete with flat screen TV's and central air conditioning systems.
This result provides another stark example of the need for public policy that aligns the utilities' economic incentives with environmental stewardship. Below are a few policy steps that would create these proper incentives:
1. Extend the renewable energy tax credits: The House again passed a bill to extend these credits and now it awaits a Senate vote. Passing the extensions would send a clear signal to entrepreneurs to start building these renewables projects and to utilities that they could count on this clean future energy supply.
2. Decoupling: By decoupling a utilities' revenues from the amount of energy it sells, it creates a disincentive for utilities to sell more energy. In other words, create a financial incentive for utilities to earn on energy savings, not energy sales. This way utilities, who interact daily with every American and all businesses, can serve as a conservation ambassador driving good public policy.
It works. In California we've had decoupling laws for thirty years. During this time period, the state's per capita energy use has remained flat, while the rest of the country's has increased by 50 percent. For PG&E's customers, it has meant savings of $22 billion and the avoidance of 135 million tons of CO2.
Meanwhile, California - the world's sixth-largest economy - has seen economic output per unit of energy improve by 40 percent, versus only 8 percent for the remainder of the country. In other words, we can have economic growth and help the environment.
3. Pass federal greenhouse gas emissions reduction legislation: A harmonized federal policy will create clear direction for utilities, industry, and citizens. A patchwork of laws will only make it harder for these players to take action in a meaningful way.
A recent report by the NRDC and Ceres, sponsored by PG&E and PSEG, benchmarked the greenhouse gas emissions stemming from electricity generation and looked at the abatement impact of competing emissions reduction legislation. The report provides a good starting point to understanding the different types of approaches to legislating greenhouse gas emissions and to the complex nature of regulating utilities with varying levels of CO2 output.
May 14 2008
Wind power could provide 20% of U.S. electricity needs by 2030, according to a new DOE report released this week.
The report, titled "20% Wind Energy by 2030: Increasing Wind Energy's Contribution to U.S. Electricity Supply," identifies the steps that need to be addressed to reach the 20% goal. According to the Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capital blog, obstacles include reducing the cost of wind technologies, building new transmission infrastructure, and enhancing domestic manufacturing capability.
Wind currently accounts for about three percent of PG&E's energy mix and we've added more than 250 MW to our future contract mix over the past nine months. That means that we have 1061 MW of wind energy under contract or delivered.
However, as much as we believe in adding clean renewable sources to our mix, wind poses a bit of a challenge for all of California's utilities.
Wind blows at night in California, which means that we're getting a renewable source during a time when we don't need a significant amount of energy. In the past, we've been able to store wind energy via the Helms Hydroelectric facility to be used during the day time peak demand hours (roughly 11 am to 7 pm). We use the clean wind power to pump water uphill to a reservoir, where it is stored. Then during the day, we generate electricity by running the water through the hydroelectric facility. It's truly an amazing engineering feat, yet requires a significant capital investment.
We're also looking at electric vehicles as a way to store off-peak generated wind energy. At some point we could see plug-in electric hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) serving as mobile storage facilities. Our customers would plug their PHEV in to a 120 volt outlet at home during the night following their daily commute. Then each car would sell back the energy to the grid when needed during the day. The car would communicate with the utility, so that it knows exactly how much to take depending on the driver's needs.
We're a few years off from this scenario, but we've been doing some interesting partner work with Google and Tesla, and discussing the need for more electric vehicles (EVs) with the major U.S. automakers.
With advancements in battery technology we could also have onsite storage capacity, whereby wind energy is stored at the generation facility and brought on the grid during the day when demand is highest. We're also working with venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to develop this market.
Whether it's onsite or through PHEVs, it's clear that we'll need improved storage capacity to truly take advantage of California's abundant, yet off-peak wind supply. It should be interesting to see how this plays out.
