Technological Advances in Hydro

By Kris Polly

Pam Sullivan is the chief operating officer of American Municipal Power (AMP) and the chair of the board of directors of the National Hydropower Association (NHA). In this month’s cover story, we talk with her about AMP’s hydro portfolio, NHA’s advocacy for the industry’s top issues, and why she is bullish about hydropower’s role in a future marked by load growth and the increased penetration of variable renewables.

Douglas Public Utility District (PUD) is a small utility in central Washington that operates Wells Dam on the Columbia River. We speak with General Manager Gary Ivory about how hydropower at Wells Dam is being paired with hydrogen generation and about the PUD’s numerous projects to benefit fish.

Martin Wosnik is a professor at the University of New Hampshire and the director of the Atlantic Marine Energy Center, a university-led consortium that is advancing marine energy technology. He tells us about the center’s current research projects, which include a wave energy converter designed to boost kelp aquaculture and a “living bridge” that uses tidal energy to meet its power needs.

Niricson uses drones and other methods to collect optical, infrared, and acoustic data, processes the data using AI, and then creates deterioration maps and other easy-to-interpret outputs. Cofounder and CEO Harsh Rathod tells us more about his vision of leading the “digital infrastructure condition assessment revolution.”

ASI Group began as an aquatic sciences and environmental cleanup company before becoming a major underwater pipeline and dam inspection company. We speak with Bob Clarke, the senior vice president of R&D, about remotely operated vehicles, sonar systems, underwater surveying, condition-based asset management, and other services of interest to the hydro industry.

Does it seem incongruous to you that core components of hydropower plants could be made of wood? If so, you haven’t heard of lignum vitae, a dense, self-lubricating wood that is used to make bearings for numerous naval and industrial uses. We speak with Bob Shortridge, the president of Lignum Vitae North America, about the benefits of lignum vitae bearings for hydropower applications.

Hydrogen generation, tidal energy, drone and ROV surveying, AI, and novel materials are all making their mark on hydropower. All these technologies and more will be crucial for the future that Pam Sullivan lays out in her interview: one in which hydropower plays a key role in stabilizing and powering a grid transformed by electrification.

Kris Polly is the editor-in-chief of Hydro Leader magazine and the president and CEO of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.