Retrofitting U.S. Non-Hydropower Dams Could Amp Power Nationally By 15 Percent, Says Study
June 6, 2012 Kyriaki (Sandy) Venetis Looking to increase renewable energy production at a lower cost to both taxpayers and the environment, the U.S. Department of Energy has come out with a study detailing the potential for retrofitting current non-hydropower dams with the technology needed to produce electric power.
Ranking 24th in the Oak Ridge survey of potential hydropower sites is the non-powered Montgomery (Ala.) Locks & Dam, spanning the Ohio River near Monaca, Pa. Built in the 1930s to increase the navigational depth of a shallow part of the river, this site has the potential to generate nearly 100 MW of electricity. Caption information and photo courtesy of ecology.com.
The study found that among the major benefits to these retrofits would be that the monetary costs and environmental impacts of dam construction have already been incurred, so adding power to existing dams can often be achieved at lower costs, with less risk, and in a shorter timeframe than building new dams.
The study estimates that without building a single new dam, these resources – if fully developed – can produce an electric generating capacity of over 12 gigawatts (GW), equivalent to about 15 percent of the country’s current hydropower power, according to the energy department.