Hydro 88 Corp

Description

Export market big prize for independent power More... Projects sought for Island power More... Weapons of Mass Emission More... Future of Ontario's electricity industry More... CHA Calls for Incentives on Hydropower Capacity Canadian Hydropower Association President Al Snyder called for appropriate incentives for the development of new hydropower facilities, which provide a renewable and clean source of energy that can meet demand and ensure energy security for Canadians while addressing members of the Quebec Electricity Association. The Canadian Hydropower Association (CHA) is the national association dedicated to representing the interests of the hydropower industry. The CHA President said that very few hydropower projects have been developed over the past twelve years in Canada. This is due, in part, to insufficient harmonization between provincial/ territorial and federal environmental assessment processes, the timing and requirements of the environmental assessment process, and uncertainty regarding its outcome. A low emitting source of electricity, hydropower can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while meeting electricity demand. Snyder said that hydropower produces 60 times fewer greenhouse gases emissions than coal-fired power plants and 18-30 times fewer than natural-gas power plants. In addition, hydropower's operational flexibility makes it a good source of electricity to support the development of other renewables such as wind energy. "Despite the obvious environmental and technical advantages of hydro, it is much longer and more difficult to obtain the go-ahead for a hydro plant than for a thermal plant," said Snyder. "As electricity demand is expected to continue growing over the coming decade, even with new and effective energy conservation measures, we must continue developing low emitting sources of electricity if we are serious about addressing climate change and air pollution." To ensure the development of new hydropower capacity, the Canadian Hydropower Association calls for appropriate incentives such as emissions credits for new hydropower development, appropriate price signals and streamlined environmental assessments. The utility said that these measures are necessary to ensure the continued development of Canada's only large scale renewable and low- emitting source of electricity. CNW Telbec Canadian provinces eye massive hydro power project TORONTO, ON -- Two Canadian provinces joined forces recently to launch a study into building a massive hydroelectric project that would help ease uncomfortably tight power supplies in the country's biggest market. The $6 billion Conawapa power project would be located on Manitoba's Nelson River, 800 km north of Winnipeg, and include a high-voltage transmission line east to Ontario, which has been hit by growing worries over electricity shortages. At 1,250 megawatts, enough to power 1.25 million average homes, Conawapa would be water-rich Manitoba's biggest hydro project. Government-owned Manitoba Hydro now runs 16 generating stations, 14 of them hydroelectric plants. Manitoba Premier Gary Doer and Ontario Premier Ernie Eves signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday, kicking off the C$2-million study into the development, to be carried out by Manitoba Hydro and Hydro One, Ontario's main transmission grid. The study, expected to be completed by the end of the year, will examine costs, estimated in-service dates and environmental and regulatory requirements, the provinces said. The current estimated cost of the hydro station is $5 billion and construction is expected to take about five years. The transmission line to Ontario could be worth $1 billion. It would supply as much as 5 percent of Ontario's peak demand. Ontario, home to more than 11 million people, has been hit by rising electricity rates following a botched attempt at privatization. It is now fearing shortages and struggling to bring nuclear units back on line to meet peak summer demand. Meanwhile, its coal-fired stations are slated to be retired by 2015. Manitoba said the Conawapa project would require "minimal" flooding of 3 square km because of the region's geography. Reuters Canadian Hydropower Lures Aluminum Firms NEW YORK, July 30, 2001 (AMM) -- Canadian hydropower hasn't lost its allure for aluminum giants like Alcoa Incorporated and Alcan Incorporated, or for newcomers looking for some old-time assistance and investors. Alcan is putting the finishing touches on its spanking new 400,000-tonnes-a-year Alma, Quebec, smelter in Quebec, Alcoa has embarked on a feasibility review that raises the possibility of new smelter capacity in Newfound and Labrador and backers of the proposed 360,000-tonnes-a-year Port Alberni Project say the pre-feasibility study "is a go" and they will be beating the bushes looking for support from banks, investors and established partners before the Alcoa/Newfound and Labrador study is completed. The Alcoa/Newfoundland and Labrador project, which entered the letter-of-intent stage Friday, proposes to review the feasibility of building hydroelectric generating facilities on the lower Churchill River in Labrador, related transmission infrastructure and aluminum smelting capacity in the province by Alcoa. It would permit Alcoa, which has been mulling expansion of its sizable aluminum smelting capacity in neighboring Quebec, to buy power for use outside Newfound and Labrador. The feasibility reviews, on which Alcoa's share of costs is $1 million, are scheduled for completion early in October. The possibilities for Alcoa, which has been studying substantial brownfield expansion at its smelters in nearby Quebec, includes right to purchase power from the Churchill Falls/Newfoundland and Labrador project for use outside the province. (AMM, July 30). David Krakoff, president and chief executive officer of Spokane-based KAI Technology and Development, said in a brief telephone interview Friday that the firm is putting the finishing touches on a pre-feasibility/feasibility study launched by KAI for a group of backers for a smelter that would be situated in Port Alberni, near Vancouver. In KTD's estimation, "the project is a go," Krakoff said. Krakoff declined comment pending formal release of the study "in a few weeks when everybody is back from vacation," other to say that "the numbers are good" and that the estimated capital cost is $1.5 billion and the project would use KTD 160kA prebake technology. Asked if the economic climate was favorable for an aluminum smelter project in view of currently-depressed aluminum prices, a substantial amount of global capacity -- most of it energy-related and in the United States. and Canadian Pacific Northwest -- Krakoff said "the power is there" and since aluminum prices are cyclical, "it's the right time to think about building new, efficient capacity." According to local backers grouped under the Alberni-Clayoquot Economic Development Commission, current regional energy pinches notwithstanding, there will be enough electric power available for the proposed smelter. The backers maintain that "the power being returned to British Columbia via the expiration of various portions of the Columbia River Treaty is more than sufficient to power a smelter -- with enough left over for several other major projects."

Companies nearby