Construction kicks off for hydroelectric plant near Houston {not dam}

Fuel Fix ^ | May 27, 2015 | Jordan Blum

[thackney]

Houston is oil and gas country, but hydroelectric power is coming to the region through Lake Livingston.

The East Texas Electric Cooperative, or ETEC, broke ground Wednesday on the new 24-megawatt hydroelectric plant will power about 12,000 eastern Texas homes and generate about $1 million annually for the city of Houston for the right to use city facilities at the lake.

The power plant at the existing Lake Livingston dam is scheduled for completion in 2018. The plant is rarity for Texas as a state with limited water resources and with hydroelectric plants already built decades ago along many of the states existing dams and reservoirs. Less than 1 percent of Texas’s power comes from hydroelectricity, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

Because of those valuable water resources, the ETEC is emphasizing that the plant is a “run-of-the-water” model that does not impact the exist water levels or flow, nor does it take away from the water designated for Houston drinking water or for industrial use. The plant generates power from water already running through the Trinity River and into the lake.

Texas has more 10 hydroelectric plants currently in use, several of which are in the Austin region and Texas Hill Country as part of the Lower Colorado River Authority. Still, only about 7 percent of the LCRA’s overall power comes from hydroelectricity and wind power combined.

ETEC will not reveal the project costs of the new plant, but the cooperative is saying that it will produce electricity from the plant at about 6 cents per kilowatt hour. Also, hydroelectricity plants operates at capacity up to 65 percent of the time, compared to about 15 percent of the time for wind turbines. Essentially, hydroelectricity plants cost more up front but operate more efficiently long term, according to ETEC.

The plant is being built in cooperation with the Trinity River Authority, which owns and operates the dam and reservoir. The city of Houston funded the existing facilities in the 1960s and owns 70 percent of Lake Livingston’s water storage.

[thackney]

http://www.trinityra.org/default.asp?contentID=114

Lake Livingston was completed in 1971 as the result of a contract between the Trinity River Authority of Texas and the city of Houston. TRA financed and constructed the lake, along with Lake Livingston Dam, and continues to own and operate both. Lake Livingston has a normal pool elevation of 131 feet above mean sea level and supplies water to four surrounding counties, plus the city of Houston. Stocked with striped and Florida bass, Lake Livingston is known as one of the best fishing spots in Texas.

Lake Livingston Dam, constructed across the Trinity River approximately seven miles southwest of Livingston, is 2.5 miles long. Lake Livingston has no flood control or flood storage capacity — flow through the dam is controlled by 12 tainter gates in a concrete and steel spillway. Operation of the spillway mirrors river behavior — as river flow increases, discharges will increase as well.

[thackney]

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/City-asked-to-OK-hydroelectric-plant-on-Lake-4655994.php

“It will use water we would have released anyway, to either meet our downstream commitments or handle flood waters that come through the reservoir. We won’t release any special water for electricity generation,” Holder said. “We will decide what portion of the flow can be routed through that facility.”

Neither the river authority nor the city sold any of its water rights to the power co-op, Holder added; the payments are fees negotiated for access to the lake, not for any promised volume of water.

A stark contrast

When there is sufficient water, the river authority would open an inlet east of the dam and let water flow through the turbines, then into the riverbed 500 to 1,000 feet downstream, Holder said. To keep the area between the spillway and the new discharge spot healthy, Holder said, the agreement ensures some water still will be released at the dam.

“Elsewhere in the United States, people are dismantling hydroelectric projects, they’re not building them. It stands in pretty stark contrast to national trends,” said Michelle Michot Foss, with the Center for Energy Economics at the University of Texas. It is difficult to get new dams permitted across the country, she said, due to environmental concerns.

[cripplecreek]

I love hydro.

It frees up gas and oil for sale.

[thackney]

Natural Gas yes, not some much oil. We don’t really use oil for electrical power generation. Much of what is used is refinery “leftovers” that are not useful for transportation fuel in the US.

[headstamp 2]

“Natural Gas yes, not some much oil. We don’t really use oil for electrical power generation. Much of what is used is refinery “leftovers” that are not useful for transportation fuel in the US.”

Yes, back in the early 80’s when in tech school we visited New Haven Harbor station in CT. I believe they used #6 residual oil brought in on barges and they needed to heat it to 140 degrees for it to flow. It was like petroleum jelly.

[thackney]

Also some petroleum coke is burned. Not much different than coal in how it is handled but it is counted as “oil” in the generation numbers.

[Ready4Freddy]

"When there is sufficient water, the river authority would open an inlet east of the dam and let water flow through the turbines, then into the riverbed 500 to 1,000 feet downstream"

The article posted makes it sound like the generation would be done by water *upstream* of the lake and dam:

"The plant generates power from water already running through the Trinity River and into the lake."

[thackney]

It would function like a typical hydro plant at a dam. The difference being the dam and lake already exist.

They would not modulate flow to accommodate power generation requirements.

[roadcat]

Less than 1 percent of Texas’s power comes from hydroelectricity, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

No electric cars should be sold in Texas, if people want a "clean" vehicle. Should be a disclaimer on electric cars telling prospective buyers where electricity comes from - natural gas, coal and oil.

[thackney]

We do have more wind power than any other state...

http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=TX

[thackney]

We do have more wind power than any other state...

http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=TX

Wind generates more than 10% of Texas electricity in 2014
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=20051

[roadcat]

Wind generates more than 10% of Texas electricity in 2014

Let me know when wind generates 90% of your electricity. Then it might matter. Hydroelectric doesn't kill birds, one of the problems with wind power.

[thackney]

Let me know when wind generates 90% of your electricity.

- - - - - -

Never happen in my lifetime or my future grandchildren’s.

[roadcat]

You say Texas makes 10 percent electricity from wind. Here in California, "renewables" make up 13.5 percent of the generated electricity. Some of that is wind. But a large portion is geothermal. A group of geothermal plants is just north of San Francisco, called "The Geysers". Before retiring, my wife worked for our local utility and had to sometimes travel there for her job. Stank of sulphur. All natural, doesn't harm animals, and is a great source for electrical generation. It supplies much of the electricity for Northern California north of San Francisco. Hydroelectric generation is 10 percent, nuclear is 15 percent. She also visited her company's Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, which we should have more of, but environmentalists won't allow more. Government forced her company to sell off "The Geysers" along with some other sites to break up its monopoly over power. Almost 50 percent of power generation comes from natural gas.

So I think wind power generation is not going to make an appreciable difference in power generation. Too costly, too many problems with it. And far better methods already in use.