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Small hydroelectric plants begin to take root in state
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Courtesy Photo
Workers place forms for the foundation of a 175-kilowatt hydro plant being built in the Nevada town of Kingston. The concrete box in the foundation is the hydro turbine outlet called the “tailrace.” Water will exit the hydro turbine, go through the tailrace and return to Kingston Creek.
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Jun. 28, 2011 | 12:06 p.m.
Move over, Hoover Dam. You're not the only hydroelectric game in town, anymore.
Two hydropower projects in central and Northern Nevada are the first to receive federal stimulus loans under a program designed to spur development of hydroelectricity.
A third hydropower plant being built with stimulus money is scheduled to be complete later this summer.
The plants are an important step in the development of renewable energy in Nevada, said Stacey Crowley, director of the Nevada State Office of Energy, the state agency that distributed the stimulus funds.
"These funds will continually revolve back to our office to help more renewable energy and energy-efficiency initiatives get off the ground," Crowley said. "We are so excited to see these smart, efficient hydro projects working so well in rural Nevada."
The first, the RO Ranch Project in Big Smoky Valley north of Tonopah, is a 225-kilowatt hydro plant that uses mountain runoff going through an existing drainage pipe that carries water from the North and South Twin Rivers.
Everett Jesse, chief executive officer of project contractor Nevada Controls, said all of the water used in the plant returns to the creek, for zero water consumption.
The second project in operation is the Kingston Creek Project, in Kingston. The 175-kilowatt plant also uses mountain runoff and irrigation water running through an existing pipeline, toward the Young Brothers Ranch, which will use the power.
The third project is under construction outside Tuscarora, in Northern Nevada, on the Van Norman Burns Creek Ranch.
The plans are small, considering that the average American household uses 10,656 kilowatt-hours per year, according to the Department of Energy, and Hoover Dam churns out 4 billion kilowatt-hours of hydroelectric power in an average year.
All three plants received money from an $11.4 million revolving-loan program the Nevada State Office of Energy is funding with stimulus money. The office says the developers have paid back more than $1 million in loans using NV Energy rebates, grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and owner equity. The money they've repaid will go back into the kitty to fund other renewable projects.
In all, the energy office helped finance 16 small-scale renewable projects statewide, including six solar-photovoltaic systems, four wind turbines and three anaerobic digesters, which use methane gas to make power.
The U.S. Department of Energy, which distributed the stimulus money, said Nevada was the first state in the country to allocate all of its revolving-loan funding.
Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison @reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512.
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Yes with higher utility cost and ROI's that will rarely be seen especially without TAXPAYER funded initiatives and higher rates paid by the consumer. What a scam, 1st ripoff the taxpayer and then the taxpayer who pays for the higher rates. Insanity.
Love hearing about the development of alternative ENERGY/POWER for here in Nevada! We certainly could use more information, especially any movement towards assisting the small homeowner in powering their own home. The technology is out there, it is a matter of connecting it with the people, so they can be aware of it and apply it. We need our federal government representatives to continue helping Nevada out towards 21st Century power.