Below please find a new report/factsheet "Status Report - Hydropower."
This is an update of a report earlier sent in December 2022 in what we hope will be an expanding series of "status reports" on each of the cross-section of renewable energy and other sustainable energy technologies.
Updates will be published on a roughly quarterly basis. In addition to the preliminary information provided in this initial report (i.e., U.S. net electrical generation, installed capacity, capacity factors, and near-term forecasts) subsequent editions will likely include significantly more data and short factoids (e.g., cost, employment, # of installations).
U.S. NET ELECTRICAL GENERATION:
(in gigawatt-hours GWh)
January 1 - March 31, 2023:
62,923 - Total (6.28% of total net electrical generation by all sources, inc. small-scale PV)
Source: "Electric Power Monthly," U.S. Energy Information Administration (May 24, 2023)
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/current_month/may2023.pdf [see Table ES1.B]
January 1 - December 31, 2022:
261,999 - Total (6.09% of total net electrical generation by all sources, inc. small-scale PV)
Source: "Electric Power Monthly," U.S. Energy Information Administration (February 27, 2023)
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/archive/february2023.pdf [see Table ES1.B]
January 1 - December 31, 2021:
251,585 - Total (6.05% of total net electrical generation by all sources, inc. small-scale PV)
Source: "Electric Power Annual," U.S. Energy Information Administration (November 7, 2022)
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/html/epa_01_01.html
January 1 - December 31, 2020:
285,274 - Total (7.04% of total net electrical generation by all sources, inc. small-scale PV)
Source: "Electric Power Annual," U.S. Energy Information Administration (November 7, 2022)
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/html/epa_01_01.html
January 1 - December 31, 2015:
251,168 - Total (6.13% of total net electrical generation by all sources, inc. small-scale PV)
Source: "Electric Power Monthly," U.S. Energy Information Administration (February 25, 2016)
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly [see Table ES1.B]
January 1 - December 31, 2010:
257,052 - Total (6.24% of total net electrical generation by all sources, inc. small-scale PV)
Source: "Electric Power Monthly," U.S. Energy Information Administration (March xx, 2011)
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly [see Table ES1.B]
INSTALLED GENERATING CAPACITY:
(Data are provided for only utility-scale installations - i.e., >1-MW)
March 31, 2023:
101.35 GW (7.97% share of total available installed generating capacity)
Source: "Energy Infrastructure Update," Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (May 15, 2023) https://cms.ferc.gov/media/energy-infrastructure-update-march-2023
December 31, 2022:
101.23 GW (8.03% share of total available installed generating capacity)
Source: "Energy Infrastructure Update," Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (February 7, 2023) https://cms.ferc.gov/media/energy-infrastructure-update-december-2022
December 31, 2021:
101.15 GW (8.12% share of total available installed generating capacity)
Source: "Energy Infrastructure Update," Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (March 8, 2022) https://cms.ferc.gov/media/energy-infrastructure-update-december-2021
December 31, 2020:
101.04 GW (8.30% share of total available installed generating capacity)
Source: "Energy Infrastructure Update," Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (February 8, 2021)
https://cms.ferc.gov/media/energy-infrastructure-update-december-2020
December 31, 2015:
100.06 GW (8.56% share of total available installed generating capacity)
Source: "Energy Infrastructure Update," Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (February 2, 2016)
https://www.ferc.gov/media/2699
December 31, 2010:
99.10 GW (8.75% share of total available installed generating capacity)
Source: "Energy Infrastructure Update," Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (February 4, 2011)
https://www.ferc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-05/12-10-energy-infrastructure.pdf
AVERAGE ANNUAL CAPACITY FACTORS:
(Capacity factors are a comparison of net generation with available capacity. They are available only for utility-scale installations.)
Source: "Electric Power Monthly," U.S. Energy Information Administration (May 24, 2023)
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=table_6_07_b
2023: January 1 - March 31 (average of preliminary monthly data) 36.4%
2022: (preliminary data) 37.4%
2021: 36.0%
2020: 40.7%
2015: 35.7%
2012: (2010 data not available) 39.6%
NEAR-TERM GROWTH FORECASTS:
U.S. Energy Information Administration: Conventional hydropower capacity in the electric power sector is forecast to increase by 0.19% between the end of 2022 and 2023. Capacity at the end of 2024 will be 0.22% higher than at the end of 2022.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Short-Term Energy Outlook" (May 9, 2023)
https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/data/browser/#/?v=25
Electrical generation by hydropower is forecast to dip slightly from 0.261 billion kilowatt-hours in 2022 to 0.260 billion kilowatt-hours in 2023 but then rebound to 0.281 billion kilowatt-hours in 2024.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Short-Term Energy Outlook" (May 9, 2023)
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: Additions of utility-scale hydropower between April 2023 and March 2026 could total 12,192-MW with 599-MW deemed "high probability additions". However, retirements are projected to total 43-MW. Net high-probability additions would bring total utility-scale hydropower generating capacity to 101.91-GW by March 2026; hydropower would then account for ~7.63% of total U.S. generating capacity.
Source: "Energy Infrastructure Update," Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (May 15, 2023) https://cms.ferc.gov/media/energy-infrastructure-update-march-2023
MISCELLANEOUS:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory: Conduit hydropower, which uses water from structures such as water supply pipelines and irrigation canals, has the potential to add 1.41-GW of electricity to the country's power grid.
Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, "An Assessment of Hydropower Potential at National Conduits" (October 12, 2022)
https://info.ornl.gov/sites/publications/Files/Pub176069.pdf
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/FEMA: U.S. non-powered dams (NPDs) represent opportunities for new, clean energy development. Only 2,270 U.S. dams report hydropower as a purpose. However, there are about 89,500 non-powered dams in the U.S.
Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency, "National Inventory of Dams" (August 30, 2022)
https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/risk-management/dam-safety/national-inventory-dams
National Hydropower Association: The U.S. hydropower industry currently employs up to 300,000 workers, from project development to manufacturing to facilities operations and maintenance. With the right policies in place, hydropower can expand its American workforce. A 2009 study from Navigant Consulting found that 1.4 million cumulative jobs could be created by hydropower by 2025 when policies such as a renewable electricity standard are deployed.
Source: https://www.hydro.org/waterpower/why-hydro/job-creation
For more information
Ken Bossong, Executive Director
SUN DAY Campaign
sun-day-campaign@hotmail.com
301-270-6477 x.11
