hydroelectric

Reliability of renewable energy

February 25, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Naysayers about renewable energy often claim that it is unreliable. It is true that the sun sets every night and sometimes the wind doesn’t blow. But with the growing use of battery banks to store excess power generated by renewables, the lack of reliability of renewable energy is turning out to be a myth.

A new study published in the journal Renewable Energy looked at the deployment of renewable energy in California last year. From late winter to early summer, renewable sources supplied 100% of the state’s electricity demands for up to 10 hours on 98 out of 116 days. There were no blackouts during that time thanks in part to the presence of battery backup power. During peak generation periods, the renewables provided as much as 162% of the grid’s needs.

The main finding of the study is that the electricity grid can be kept stable even as it adds more and more renewables. Beyond that, every major renewable energy source – geothermal, hydroelectric, wind, and especially solar – is on average lower in cost than fossil fuels.

Despite the low cost of renewable energy, Californians pay the second highest rates for electricity in the country. Part of the reason is that electrical equipment from utilities has set off wildfires, notably the 2018 Camp Fire that devastated the town of Paradise and killed 85 people. California’s utilities are now passing the costs that come from lawsuits and from burying transmission lines to their customers. Overhead power lines are especially prone to falling in high winds and igniting fires.

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California just debunked a big myth about renewable energy

Photo, posted December 16, 2024, courtesy of EDF Renewables / Bureau of Land Management California via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Drying rivers and hydropower

February 7, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A decade ago, Ecuador began a major transition to using hydroelectric power. Like in many other South American countries, the presence of abundant rivers could supply large amounts of energy and drive economic expansion and lead to a new era of prosperity.

This ambitious plan has run into the impacts of climate change. An extraordinary drought has engulfed much of South America, drying rivers and reservoirs, and has put Ecuador’s power grid on the brink of collapse.

Since September, daily energy cuts in Ecuador have lasted as long as 14 hours. An industry group says that the nation is losing $12 million in productivity and sales for every hour the power is out. Just a few years ago, Ecuador was making great strides in reducing poverty. Now, as the energy crisis has increased its grip on the country, much of what was achieved is being lost.

Ecuador’s situation is not unique. In recent years, abnormally dry weather in multiple places has resulted in extreme low water levels in rivers, reducing hydropower resources in Norway, Canada, Turkey, and even rainforest-rich Costa Rica.

Overall, more than one billion people live in countries where more than half of their energy comes from hydroelectric plants. With a warming climate and increasing incidence of extreme weather events like drought, it is likely that hydropower will become a less reliable energy source. More than a quarter of all hydroelectric dams are in places with a medium to high risk of water scarcity by 2050.

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The Rivers Run Dry and the Lights Go Out: A Warming Nation’s Doom Loop

Photo, posted January 15, 2020, courtesy of Pedro Szekely via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

South American drought

November 13, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Vast areas of South America have been gripped in drought conditions for months. Rivers in the Amazon basin fell to record-low levels in October. The drought has amplified wildfires, parched crops, disrupted transportation networks, and interrupted hydroelectric power generation in parts of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

The drought is related to the impact of the El Niño that was present for the latter part of 2023 and the first half of this year. El Niño typically shifts rainfall patterns in such a way that there is reduced rainfall in the Amazon. This is especially true during the dry season months of July, August, and September.

Forecasts earlier in the year warned that there would be extreme fire conditions during the dry season. Indeed, the Pantanal region that spans parts of southern Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia has experienced one of its worst fire seasons in decades. The lack of rainfall, low soil moisture, and drawdowns of groundwater helped to amplify fires and caused them to spread faster and farther.

The drought has strained power supplies in Brazil and Ecuador because hydroelectric power stations are producing less electricity. Snarled transportation networks with impassible rivers have left some communities struggling to get supplies.

Brazil’s National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters has called the current drought the most intense and widespread Brazil has ever experienced. Late October saw 293 Brazilian municipalities facing extreme drought.

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Intense, Widespread Drought Grips South America

Photo, posted August 13, 2010, courtesy of Colm Britton via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Where do states get their electricity?

September 3, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

How the United States produces its electricity has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Coal used to be the dominant source of power in this country, but natural gas surpassed it in 2016, and coal’s share has been shrinking ever since. Fossil fuel still generates the majority of America’s electricity, but renewable power is increasing its contribution all the time.

On a state-by-state basis, there are very large variations in the mix of power sources. Ten states still get their largest amount of power from coal, but this is down from 32 states in 2001. Four states have hydroelectric power as their largest source, including Vermont which gets more than half of its power that way.

Texas produces more electricity than any other state by a wide margin. It’s not just because it has a large population. It is because it uses huge amounts of power to refine petroleum products. Coal produces only 13% of Texas’ electricity and the state is by far the country’s largest producer of wind power.

New York gets nearly half of its power from natural gas, 21% from hydroelectric power, and 21% from nuclear power. Wind and solar power are still small, but both are growing in the state.

When people try to assess the climate impact of driving electric cars, based on the origins of the electricity they use to power the car, the results can vary dramatically based on what state they live in. Nationwide, electricity is getting cleaner and greener, but the process is by no means uniform across the country.

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How Does Your State Make Electricity?

Photo, posted March 17, 2021, courtesy of Bureau of Reclamation via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

More renewable energy for New York

November 24, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In late October, New York announced its largest state investment in renewable energy to date that includes three offshore wind projects, and 22 land-based clean energy projects totaling more than 6 GW of power generation.

The portfolio of projects is expected to create approximately 8,300 jobs and spur $20 billion in economic investments statewide.

The projects support the state’s goal to have 70% of its electricity come from renewable sources by 2030 and to have 9 GW of offshore wind operating by 2035. The announcement represents the first set of actions taken by the State as part of New York’s 10-Point Action Plan.

The three offshore wind projects include Attentive Energy One, a 1.4 GW project that seeks to retire fossil fuel power generation in New York City. Community Offshore Wind, a 1.3 GW project will make use of a new grid interconnection in downtown Brooklyn. Excelsior Wind, another 1.3 GW project, will provide robust energy deliverability to Long Island.

Apart from the offshore wind projects, there will be 14 new solar projects, six wind upgrading projects, one new wind project, and one return-to-service hydroelectric project.

The average bill impact for customers over the life of the land-based projects is estimated to be approximately 0.31%, or about 32 cents a month for the average customer. The bill impact for customers utilizing the offshore wind projects is estimated to be about 2.7%, or $2.93 per month.

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NY to invest in 3 offshore wind farms, 22 land-based renewable projects

Photo, posted October 21, 2016, courtesy of B Sarangi via Flickr.

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Floating Solar And Hydropower | Earth Wise

August 16, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Installing solar panels on the surface of reservoirs is an up-and-coming trend. The arrays of solar panels produce renewable energy while at the same time shielding significant expanses of water from the sun’s heat, thereby reducing evaporation. The panels also help to inhibit the growth of algae.

Two recent floating solar installations are demonstrating the synergy between solar power and hydroelectric power.

The Lazer floating solar plant in France comprises over 50,000 solar panels and is capable of producing 30 MW of power. The reservoir serves a 16.5 MW hydropower plant. During the summer, the water from Lazer Reservoir is used primarily for crop irrigation and the solar plant supplements power generation as the reservoir water level experiences variations. This is the first facility of its kind to be installed in France. The company that built it – the EDF Group – had already built four floating solar power plants in Israel and the US.

In Colombia, the Aquasol solar project is installed at the 340 MW Urrá hydropower plant. Its 2,800 solar panels produce enough power to offset the amount of energy it takes to operate the dam. The floating solar system is designed to withstand water-level fluctuations of up to 120 feet.

Floating solar systems can help keep power flowing when low water levels or other adverse conditions reduce hydroelectric output. About 60% of the world’s renewable energy comes from hydropower. Given this fact, there are countless opportunities to deploy floating solar that maximizes zero-emission energy generation as well as diversifying clean energy sources.

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Floating solar and hydropower: A match made in renewable energy heaven

Photo, posted October 25, 2010, courtesy of Martin Abegglen via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Wind And Solar Pass Coal | Earth Wise

August 3, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

For the first five months of this year, wind and solar generated more electricity than coal in the United States. This is a first. Total renewable energy generation exceeded coal-fired power in both 2020 and 2022, but that counted hydroelectric power as one of the renewable sources.

This year, wind and solar alone generated a total of 252 terawatt-hours of energy through May compared with coal’s output of 249 terawatt-hours. Hydropower generated an additional 117 terawatt-hours during that period.

While solar and wind power have been expanding at a rapid rate, the biggest change this year has been a precipitous drop in coal-fired generation due to a combination of low natural gas prices, a mild winter, and a series of coal plant retirements.

Coal generated almost half of the country’s electricity as recently as 2008. Since then, coal has steadily declined as older coal plants shut down and were replaced by natural gas plants and renewable energy sources. The coal industry had a bit of a reprieve last year when natural gas prices spiked in response to the disruptions in gas supplies in Europe due to the war in Ukraine. The benchmark for natural gas prices – known as Henry Hub – was $8.81 in August 2022. In May of this year, it was $2.15. Given this trend, the demand for coal has steadily declined.

The US has retired another 7% of the coal fleet – 14 gigawatts of capacity – since the start of 2022. Meanwhile, power companies have added 22.5 GW of wind and solar capacity in just the past 12 months.

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In a First, Wind and Solar Generated More Power Than Coal in U.S.

Photo, posted September 20, 2016, courtesy of Bureau of Land Management via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Renewables In China | Earth Wise

July 28, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A couple of years ago, China set an ambitious goal for renewable energy capacity – which includes wind, solar, hydroelectric, and nuclear power – for it to exceed fossil fuel capacity by 2025. According to a recent report by Reuters, China has hit this goal two years ahead of schedule. Renewables now make up 50.9% of the country’s power capacity.

The rapid growth in renewable capacity has largely been driven by investments in wind and solar megaprojects in the sparsely populated west of the country that export power to the manufacturing centers in the east. China’s most recent 5-year plan calls for 570 gigawatts of wind and solar power to be installed over that period, which more than doubles its installed capacity. The plan makes use of what it called “clean energy bases”, which utilize sandy and rocky deserts, other types of barren lands, and wastelands left behind by coal mining. The largest clean energy bases make use of vast deserts in Inner Mongolia and Gansu.

One cautionary note is that power capacity refers to the maximum amount of electricity that a power plant can produce under ideal conditions. Thus, for example, it refers to how much electricity a solar farm can generate at noon on a cloudless day. So, the new figures from China don’t necessarily reveal how much electricity China is actually drawing from renewables. In reality, China still gets a great deal of its power from coal.

China is the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide – more than twice as much as the United States, albeit from nearly 4 times the population. The rapid growth of renewables is at least moving that country in the right direction.

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Fossil Fuels Now Account for Less Than Half of China’s Power Capacity

Photo, posted December 2, 2015, courtesy of IBM via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Drought And U.S. Hydropower | Earth Wise

November 29, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The ongoing severe drought in the western U.S. has led to low water levels in the rivers and reservoirs that feed hydroelectric power systems. The Energy Information Administration is projecting a 13.9% decrease in hydroelectric generation this year compared to 2020.

Water levels in Lake Powell have fallen so low that it may not be possible to operate the power plant at Glen Canyon Dam starting as soon as 2022. California officials took the Edward Hyatt hydroelectric plant offline in August because of low water levels on Lake Oroville. Washington, the state with the most hydroelectric power generation, has seen an 11% drop in electricity generated to date this year as compared to last year. That state is actually doing better than others in the West, such as California, where hydro generation is down 38%.

Hydropower accounts for over 7% of the electricity generated in the United States. Five states – Washington, Idaho, Vermont, Oregon, and South Dakota – generate at least half of their electricity from hydroelectric dams.

The current decrease in hydropower is alarming, but it is not unprecedented. The more significant question is whether the drop in generation this year is a sign that this power source is declining and becoming less reliable. According to some scientists, the West is in a “megadrought” that could last for decades.

The greater concern is whether the bad years are likely to become more common because of climate change. Climate projections agree that temperatures will continue to rise, but what will happen to precipitation levels in specific places is much less certain. That is what will determine what the future holds for hydroelectric power.

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Inside Clean Energy: Drought is Causing U.S. Hydropower to Have a Rough Year. Is This a Sign of a Long-Term Shift?

Photo, posted May 7, 2014, courtesy of Tyler Bell via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Renewables Surpass Coal | Earth Wise

July 3, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In 2019, energy consumption in the U.S. from renewable sources exceeded consumption from coal for the first time since before 1885. This has come about from a combination of the continued decline in the amount of coal used for electricity generation as well as the continued growth in renewable energy, mostly from wind and solar.

Until the mid-1800s, burning wood was the main source of energy in the U.S. and, in fact, it was the only commercial-scale renewable energy source until the first hydroelectric plants came online in the 1880s. Coal was used as fuel for steamboats and trains and making steel but only started to be used to generate electricity in the 1880s.

In 2019, U.S. coal consumption decreased for the sixth consecutive year and fell to its lowest level in 42 years. Natural gas has displaced much of the energy generation from retired coal plants.

At the same time, renewable energy consumption in the U.S. grew for the fourth year in a row to a record high level, almost entirely as a result of the growing use of wind and solar power. In 2019, wind power surpassed hydroelectric power for the first time and is now the most-used source of renewable energy for electricity generation in the U.S.

Coal was once commonly used in the industrial, transportation, residential, and commercial sectors. Today, in the U.S., it is mostly used to generate electricity, and that use is rapidly declining.

Electricity consumption for 2020 is likely to be anomalous in many ways as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic shutdowns. From all indications, however, the role of renewable energy will only have been increased during the shutdown period.

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U.S. renewable energy consumption surpasses coal for the first time in over 130 years

Photo, posted July 26, 2013, courtesy of Don Graham via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Coronavirus And European Energy | Earth Wise

April 23, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

As people all over the world shelter in place and much ordinary commerce and other activities have ground to a halt, there have been big changes in energy usage. With production halted, offices shut down, schools closed, and public transport operated on reduced timetables, the demand for energy has decreased dramatically.

In Europe, as a result of all this, during the first quarter of this year, renewables’ share of total energy production was greater than 60%. Wind farms provided more than 40% of the renewables’ share of total electricity generation. During February, Denmark, Germany and Ireland saw nearly 50% of their electricity demand met with wind power. Hydroelectric power was the second largest source of renewable energy during the first quarter, with Norway providing the largest share of this. In contrast, generation from nuclear plants was at its lowest first quarter figure for the past five years.

The large shift to renewable generation was in great part due to the overall reduction in demand. This impacts nuclear and fossil-fuel generation much more than renewables because those plants can be throttled back or shut down entirely so as not to needlessly consume costly fuels. Generation that runs on sunlight, wind, or flowing water does not require fuel expenses, so it makes sense to prefer them when demand is reduced.

The reduction in demand has in turn had a major effect on fuel costs as oil reached low prices that haven’t been seen in years.

The decline in demand and fuel prices and the enhanced role of renewables are expected to continue in the current quarter as the timetable for renewed economic activity remains unknown.

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Renewables achieve clean energy record as COVID-19 hits demand

Photo, posted June 25, 2010, courtesy of Martin Abegglen via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Wind Power Overtakes Hydroelectric Power | Earth Wise

April 10, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In 2019, the amount of electricity generated by wind power surpassed hydroelectric power for the first time, making wind the largest renewable source of electricity generation in the country.

Total wind generation in 2019 was 300 million MWh, which was 26 million MWh more than was produced by hydroelectric plants.

Hydroelectric generation has fluctuated between 250 and 320 million MWh over the past decade. The capacity base has been stable, so the fluctuations were a result of variable annual precipitation. Hydroelectric generation is generally greatest in the spring when rain and melting snow pack increase water runoff.

The growth in wind power is primarily a result of increasing capacity rather than any major fluctuations in wind caused by changing weather. The U.S. added about 10 GW of wind capacity in 2019, making it the second largest year for capacity additions ever, second only to 2012.

Wind energy is an intermittent source, meaning that it isn’t windy all the time. The average annual capacity factor for the U.S. wind fleet over the past decade has been 28 to 35%, meaning that is the amount of energy actually produced compared with the systems running at continuous full power all the time. By comparison, the U.S. hydroelectric fleet operated at 35 to 43% of capacity during that period. So, wind power is actually not that much less a steady source than hydroelectric power.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the government’s production tax credit, which was extended through this year, means that wind power capacity in the U.S. will continue to grow at a robust pace. Meanwhile, some dams are being decommissioned and there is little new construction in the hydropower sector.

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Wind has overtaken the top position for renewable generation in the U.S., EIA says

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Droughts And Hydropower

February 7, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Recent droughts in several western states have led to well-publicized problems including wildfires, loss of trees, and damage to crops. A lesser-known impact of drought conditions has been increases in emissions of carbon dioxide and harmful air pollutants from power generation.

When hydropower runs low in a drought, western states tend to ramp up power generation – and therefore emissions – from fossil fuels. According to a new study from Stanford University, droughts caused about 10 percent of the average annual carbon dioxide emissions from power generation in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington between 2001 and 2015.

Water is used in electricity generation both directly for hydroelectric power and indirectly for cooling in thermoelectric power plants. When water for hydropower comes up short because of drought conditions, natural gas or coal-fired power plants are brought online to pick up the slack.

These drought-induced shifts in energy sources led to an estimated 100 million tons of carbon dioxide across 11 western states between 2001 and 2015. That is the equivalent of adding 1.4 million vehicles to the region’s roadways. California, whose legislature has mandated that the state be carbon-free by 2045, contributed about half of this total. Washington, which is considering a similar mandate, contributed nearly a quarter of the total.

Western states in recent years have suffered intense droughts that scientists expect to become more common as global warming continues to intensify. The new study indicates that in regions where clean, reliable hydropower has been an important part of the energy mix, it will be increasingly necessary to provide clean backup energy sources in order to meet emission reduction targets.

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Droughts boost emissions as hydropower dries up

Photo, posted March 7, 2016, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Too Much Of A Good Thing

June 10, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Germany has continued to be the most aggressive adopter of renewable energy among large industrial nations. The country has the goal of shifting to 100% renewables by 2050. Its continuing embracing of solar and wind generation resources over the past decade has resulted in renewables supplying a third of the country’s power on average.