Volume 1 Issue 1 September 2020
By Kris Polly The hydropower industry works on an epic scale. It tames the elemental forces of land and water to turn mountains, valleys, and lakes into power generators. From the Hoover Dam to Grand Coulee, the immenseearly- 20th-century hydroelectric dams that still power the West are familiar images. But hydropower goes beyond vast […]
2020 Mid-Year Hydropower Update
By Morgan Gerard, Elizabeth McCormick, and Chuck Sensiba During the first half of 2020, the hydropower industry has been subject to major regulatory changes that are likely to have far-reaching and significant consequences for licensees, regulators, and other stakeholders. These changes include two major rules altering longstanding regulations pertaining to the Clean Water Act (CWA) […]
NuSTREEM: Bringing Aerospace Ingenuity to the Hydropower Industry
NuSTREEM is a hydropower company whose modular small hydro units use tested, patented intelligence to optimize performance, leading to proven, measurable efficiency gains. With thousands of hours of run time on six preproduction units, NuSTREEM is now launching a pilot program for its NuTECH Controller and is seeking to install more of its units. In […]
Worthington Products: A Worldwide Leader in Waterway Barrier Technology
Paul Meeks, the president of Worthington Products, is on a mission. His company, Worthington Products, is so well known for its orange TUFFBOOM product line that many people overlook Worthington’s other high-density polyethylene (HDPE), steel, and custom-fabricated waterway barrier systems. Worthington is a multidisciplinary designer, manufacturer, and installer of waterway barrier systems made from steel, […]
Garney’s Major Penstock Projects
Garney Construction has worked on several major penstock construction projects across the nation—and difficult ones at that. In one project, the company winched an excavator down a steep Colorado mountain face to dig a trench for a penstock. In this interview, Matt Foster, Garney’s chief operating officer for western pipe operations, tells Hydro Leader about […]
Voith Hydro’s Expertise on Pumped Storage Projects
The Voith Group is a Germany-based multinational corporation with more than 19,000 employees worldwide. One of its primary divisions is Voith Hydro, a complete system supplier that produces turbines and generators for the world’s largest hydropower stations. Voith Hydro’s expertise also extends to pumped storage hydroelectric projects. In this interview, we speak with Dr. Klaus […]
Mavel: Manufacturing Turbines and Looking Toward 2050
Hydropower firm Mavel was one of the first companies to be founded after the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia. Since then, it has grown from a small hydro engineering company to a world leader in hydroelectric turbine manufacturing. With 180 employees, two production facilities, and 100 proprietary turbine designs, it provides customers around the world […]
HDR’s Work on Major Hydropower and Pumped Storage Projects Across the Nation
HDR is an engineering, architectural, environmental, and construction services consulting firm that has worked on major infrastructure projects around the world. Its hydropower practice brings together 300 specialists working across North America on major conventional hydroelectric and pumped storage projects. In this interview, Rick Miller, HDR’s senior vice president for hydropower services and a recipient […]
Kleinschmidt Associates: Hydro Engineering Consulting Specialists
Kleinschmidt Associates is one of a few engineering consulting firms in North America that specializes in hydropower, and it has been doing so for more than 50 years. Its expertise is in engineering, regulatory, and environmental solutions that help lower costs, shorten schedules, and enhance long-term regulatory relationships. In particular, Kleinschmidt works on Federal Energy […]
Darvin Fales of Columbia Basin Hydropower: Prospects for the Banks Lake Pumped Storage Project
Columbia Basin Hydropower was established in the 1980s to allow the three Columbia Basin Project irrigation districts to develop hydroelectric power stations on their facilities. Today, its seven generating stations have a nameplate capacity of 146 megawatts (MW). In addition to maintaining and operating its existing facilities, Columbia Basin Hydropower is working to build an […]
