Statewide Small Hydropower Resource Assesment

Publication Number:    CEC-500-2006-065

Abstract:
Senate Bill 1078 [SB 1078, Sher 2002] restricted eligibility of small hydroelectric facilities under the Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) program to those that do not require "… a new or increased appropriation or diversion of water …" RPS-eligibility will likely be the primary driver of small hydropower development in California for the foreseeable future because of access to Supplemental Energy Payments that make projects more economic. Given the SB 1078 restrictions, small hydropower in man-made conduits is the sector that likely offers greatest RPS-eligible potential. This study indicates that approximately 255 megawatts of RPS-eligible small hydropower potential could be developed in man-made conduits with current technologies.Small hydropower development faces significant challenges. Although environmental permitting issues are less difficult for facilities sited in existing man-made conduits, large capital costs often make these projects uneconomic. In addition, the risks and complexities of selling the small hydropower output into bulk power markets often render such projects too risky and/or uneconomic, particularly since the owners of these systems are usually water agencies and irrigation districts that have other priorities. 

Changes to current regulatory rules are needed to remove barriers to development of small hydropower in man-made conduits. Research and development should also continue into low-head technologies, particularly those that make projects more cost-effective by reducing or eliminating need for costly civil works. Meanwhile, the 2005 Energy Policy Act (EPAct) provides timely new incentives for both incremental and new hydropower development that could be accessed to accelerate development of additional hydropower capacity in California.The California Energy Commission's 2005 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) to the Governor and to the Legislature identifies in-conduit hydropower as an important means by which the water sector can attain energy self-sufficiency and reduce impacts on the state's stressed energy resources and infrastructure. PIER has an important role in attaining the IEPR's goal of increasing energy production from water.

Keywords: California hydropower, small hydropower, resource assessment, conduit hydropower, hydroelectricity

Author(s):  Laurle Park

Commission Division:    Technology Systems Division - R&D, PIER (500)

Office/Program:    PIER: Public Interest Energy Research

PIER Program Area:    Renewable Energy Technologies

Date Published:    June 2006

Date On Line:    06/28/2006

Acrobat PDF File Size: 67 pages, 5,200 kilobytes**