POWER July 2015 - 10

2. World hydropower development. Hydropower development around the world
stalled from 1999 to 2005, reflecting the impact of the World Commission on Dams, which was
convened to review the development effectiveness of large dams. The body in 2000 challenged
existing practices and proposed stringent guidelines for new projects. From 2005, development
saw an upswing owing to investments by emerging economies, growing interest in renewables
and energy storage, and participation in carbon markets. Courtesy: REN21
The project has also been plagued by
delays owing to a shipyard switch. Originally
slated for delivery in 2010, state
nuclear reactor monopoly Rosatom now
plans to operate the world's first floating
nuclear power plant at the port of Pevek in
Russia's remote far east region of Chukotka
by October 2016, Deputy Prime Minister
Dmitry Rogozin said in May.
A May-released government budget
document meanwhile reveals that Russia
is pushing to complete the floating
power plant to " guarantee energy and
social stability " of Chukotka by 2019,
and that the project will get federal
funds to complete it. The cost increases
include those for infrastructure needed
in Pevek.
The project comprises two 35-MW reacincluding
the 13.9-GW Xiloudu project,
the 6.4-GW Xiangjiaba project, and the
5.9-GW Nuozhadu project. China's expected
capacity could reach 350 GW by
2020, says the report.
According to the report, the five biggest
hydropower plants in the world by
capacity currently under construction are
the 13.1-GW Baihetan project on China's
Jinsha River, expected to be completed
in 2019; the 11-GW Belo Monte project
on Brazil's Xingu River, also on schedule
for 2019; the 8.7-GW Wudongde in China
that should come online by 2020; the 7.1GW
TaSang project in Myanmar, slated to
begin operations in 2022; and the 6-GW
Grand Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia that is
scheduled to begin operations in 2017.
Hydropower development in Europe and
North America meanwhile consists of modernization,
uprating, and conversion of
existing hydropower facilities, it notes.
Among the sector's mammoth hurdles,
the report says, is that big developments
are often controversial. Chile in 2014, for
example, halted development of the 2.6GW
HidroAysen hydropower project in the
Patagonia region, and the country is reportedly
rethinking hydropower as a future
primary energy supply.
Other challenges that could affect the
sector's future include a shortage of technical
specialists across a variety of needed
skill sets, project delays, water consumption
from evaporation from reservoir
surfaces, water storage capacities, and
sedimentation. Then there are issues stemming
from climate change and resilience.
Brazil, which is facing its worst drought in
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40 years, saw its reservoirs operate at only
16.1% of capacity on average at the end
of 2014 and was forced to operate thermal
plants to avoid blackouts.
The report also notes that a project's
greenhouse gas footprint is " an area of
ongoing scientific research, and policy responses
are still evolving as the state of
knowledge progresses. There are concerns
around the uncertainty in estimates of
GHG emissions from reservoir systems, and
that these impacts are often attributed to
hydropower projects. "
-Sonal Patel, associate editor
Russia Sees Floating
Power Plant Costs Balloon
Costs for the Akademik Lomonosov, Russia's
flagship floating nuclear power plant,
have reportedly mushroomed to 37 billion
rubles ($700 million), an increase of more
than 300% from the original 2006 estimate
of nine billion rubles ($170 million).
3. Flagship. The Akademik Lomonosov
is a floating nuclear power plant that Russia's
Rosatom is building at the Baltiysky shipyard
in St. Petersburg. Courtesy: Rosatom
tors (with a 40-year lifetime) built atop
a 144-meter barge that must be towed to
its destination (Figure 3). It can operate
in shallow waters and be connected to
onshore infrastructure, making it useful
to power ports, industrial infrastructure,
oil and gas platforms, and to help with
Arctic exploration, Rogozin said.
Russia plans to build seven more such
floating power plants. Fifteen countries
are reportedly interested in leasing them,
most significantly China.
-Sonal Patel, associate editor
Australian Lawmakers
Strike RET Deal
The political impasse stalling investments
in renewables in Australia was breached
in mid-May after lawmakers reached an
agreement to revise the renewable energy
target (RET).
After months of intense wrangling,
the Coalition and Labor parties struck a
deal to cut the RET to 33,000 GWh from
the current 41,000 GWh. That figure is
far more than the 26,000 GWh initially
demanded by the government when negotiations
began. It exempts large-scale,
emissions-intensive, trade-exposed industries
like aluminum smelting and
steel production from the RET, and it
scraps the biennial reviews pushed for
by the Coalition. It will instead require
the Clean Energy Regulator to provide an
annual statement to parliament on progress
towards the target and its impact on
power prices.
Australia's RET, which has been in
operation since 2001, was increased in
2010 to require that about 20% of the
nation's then-projected demand in 2020
would be met by renewables. The current
RET essentially comprises a largePOWER
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POWER July 2015

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