Celebrating Nebraska Hydro

By Kris Polly

Thanks to a proclamation made at Kingsley Dam by Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, an event attended by several Water Strategies staff, August 24 is now Nebraska Hydropower Day. In this issue, we help celebrate this designation with two interviews that highlight hydro’s importance for the state and delve into its interrelation with water resources across the state. First, we interview Governor Pillen; then, we talk with Devin Brundage and Mike Drain, the general manager and natural resources and compliance manager, respectively, of the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, which owns Kingsley Dam and Hydropower Project.

Next, we interview Andrew Strong, the environmental, engineering, and project delivery officer at Seattle City Light, about the complex and collaborative process of renewing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license for the South Fork Tolt River Hydroelectric Project.

Jonathan Colby, the president and founder of Streamwise Development LLC, has deep experience in the marine energy sector: He spent more than 15 years at Verdant Power, which developed the first commercially licensed tidal energy project in the United States, and is a leader in developing industry standards for marine energy projects. Today, his consultancy helps marine energy developers around the world manage risk and ensure quality as they bring their projects to fruition.

C‑Power is an American company seeking to commercialize its SeaRAY and StingRAY wave-energy devices. In our conversation with CEO Reenst Lesemann, we learn more about these marine energy devices and their potential to supply the grid and maritime ventures.

HYDROGRID, which supplies an integrated hydropower management tool called Insight, is expanding its footprint in Latin America, having contracted with an additional 1.2 gigawatts of hydro assets over the last 6 months. We speak with Chief Operations Officer Annette Mossel about Insight’s adaptability to a variety of hydro facilities and learn more about the value it can add.

Finally, in a conversation with Liv Randi Hultgreen, the executive director of Renew Hydro, the Norwegian Research Centre for Renewal of Hydropower, we look into the future of Norwegian hydropower and how it can contribute to the grid across Europe. We also check in on existing U.S.-Norwegian research collaboration and talk about the potential for more in the future.

Hydropower spans many dichotomies. While the foundations of modern U.S. hydropower were laid in the early 20th century and during the New Deal, its contributions to the grid are only becoming more critical as we progress further into the 21st century. And while hydropower is most often associated with major water-impounding structures, its next generation also includes modular marine energy devices that may soon provide grid-scale energy. These seeming paradoxes are among the factors that will keep this sector vibrant across the globe in the decades to come.

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.