Many issues are addressed when considering relicensing a hydroelectric project. Issues involved include environmental, land, recreation, wildlife, water quality, and cultural and aquatic resource issues. Federal agencies, state agencies, and other interested parties engage in the process to ensure these issues are appropriately addressed, and participate in the extensive and detailed documentation, studies, reports, and meetings with the license holder. Consequently, this process takes many years.
FERC offers an education guide on the relicensing process and other comprehensive resources.
You will get efficient and thoughtful service from IWHR.
We will continue honoring the licensee arrangements that are in effect during the review of the hydroelectric operations. Also, we are the proud sponsors of several events along the rivers including the Au Sable Canoe Marathon. Our relationship to those events will continue during the review.
The review of our 13 hydroelectric facilities is a company-initiated process independent of the state task force. The Michigan Dam Safety Task Force met in and at the direction of Governor Whitmer following the May failures of the dams in mid-Michigan to evaluate:
- The statutory structure, budget, and program design of the state's dam safety program;
- The adequacy of Michigan's dam safety standards; and
- The level of investment needed in dam infrastructure.
Some of the findings and recommendations from the Michigan Dam Safety Task Force Report may influence how state agencies participate in ongoing conversations about our hydroelectric operations.
The hydroelectric relicensing process has a five-year timeline. This involves the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) and subsidiaries under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to weigh in on the Integrated Licensing Process (ILP). The process involves the licensee, Consumers Energy, filing an informed license application with FERC to demonstrate how it will protect or enhance a hydrodam and its surrounding environment. If approved, the proposed plan is then reviewed by FERC staff. Input is given from all parties to provide final recommendations, terms, and conditions for relicensing.
The final decision on whether to relicense or decommission a facility depends upon safety, community, cost of operations, and recreational assets. Compliance with regulatory requirements is most highly considered. Regardless of what decision is made for the future of any of the 13 hydrodam facilities, physical changes to the infrastructure will not occur for many years after the decision has been made. The timeline for relicensing is handled by FERC and takes around five years. It includes the following process:
10-Years Prior to License Expiration:
- A stakeholder engagement process begins with the licensee (in this case, Consumers Energy) to gain information on recreational, cultural, and environmental assets of a hydrodam region. They use informed input from state agencies, tribal, and non-governmental organizations.
5-Years Prior to License Expiration:
- The licensee works with the Division of Hydropower Administration and Compliance (DHAC) to submit a Notice of Intent and pre-application documentation before the license expires.
- Data from the stakeholder engagement process informs the future license application that is filed through a FERC-approved study plan.
2-Years Prior to License Expiration:
- If a study plan is approved, it begins a two-year review period by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) and includes other state and federal agencies.
- Pre-filing a study plan helps MPSC staff find more information and studies needed to prepare the proper environmental documentation.
- Recommendations and finalizing relicensing terms and conditions is done before the license application is officially submitted.
- Once an official relicense application is submitted, it is taken under consideration and ultimately approved or denied.
The energy solutions that worked for the last 100 years are different from Michigan’s current and future needs. Consistent with our Clean Energy Plan—our road map to ending coal use by and achieving net zero carbon emissions by —we are adding more investments in renewable energy sources like solar and wind. Hydropower comprises a small, yet dependable role in our commitment to providing reliable energy generation. At one time, we owned and operated more than 90 river hydro facilities. Today, hydroelectric power at our 13 facilities generates approximately 1% of the total capacity provided by Consumers Energy. By comparison, approximately 16 wind turbines or up to 500 acres of solar can generate the same amount of energy as the 13 river hydro facilities.
Hydroelectric dams convert energy stored in the water reservoir behind the dam into kinetic energy. When water flows to the turbines it is used to spin the generator shaft. This activates the generator, which, in turn, creates electricity. Later, the water discharges from the unit back into the river.
In order for the reservoirs to be maintained, we’re considering divesting as an option. This will help minimize the cost impact to our customers. Our RFP will be structured to solicit marketing interest in transferring the current license for continued operations while allowing any interested parties to propose other scenarios. While it is true that we would not have a say in the future of the reservoir if the license is transferred, we can anticipate other scenarios that will only be considered if transferring the current license for continued operation is not cost-effective and other solutions to maintain the reservoir are unsuccessful. Today’s announcement is just a first step. As we move forward, we are committed to exploring all options to maintain the reservoirs.
The RFP process will help identify potential buyers. Our intent would be to transfer all 13 hydroelectric facilities to one buyer – such as an independent energy producer – but the RFP will be open to all qualified bidders. We intend to keep the language open in the RFP in order to allow for creative opportunities. Again, this is very early in the process, and we will learn more as we continue the evaluation.
We heard from community members and local leaders how important it is to keep the reservoir. We are committed to exploring all options for safely manufacturing these reservoirs for decades to come.
Through this RFP, we are exploring if divesting would make sense as an option that would allow for the reservoirs to remain the same while minimizing the cost impact on our customers.
As we consider bids and potential buyers, safety records and financial assurance will be our top considerations. We will not compromise our commitment to safe hydroelectric facilities in Michigan.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) also provides a set of safety and financial assurance standards that would need to be met by a new owner, ensuring the dams remain safe.
Hydro power is typically associated with big rivers, bigger dams and huge reservoirs — not something the selfbuilder normally contemplates. But that does not have to be the case.
Is hydro power a realistic solution for individual homes?
Want more information on hydraulic dam companies? Feel free to contact us.
Tim Pullen investigates hydro turbine generator for home use about a 2kw hydro turbine generator, When we have the water head and water flow data, we can know exactly how to calculate the hydro turbine generator wattage.
Micro hydro technology is available that lets the individual homeowner (with a stream) generate their own power. Consider this: a hydro turbine of just 500W will produce enough electricity through the year to meet the annual consumption of an energy-efficient home. You could pick up and carry a turbine that size with one hand.
The key question is: how big does the stream have to be? And in this the issues are ‘water head’ – the vertical distance between the highest and lowest points of the stream – and ‘water flow’ – the amount of water passing a point, measured in litres per second.
How to measure water head of hydro site?
How to measure water flow of a water site?
The calculation is: head x flow rate x gravity x 0.75 (which allows for system inefficiencies).
For example, a 5m head with a 14 litre per second flow rate will give:
5m x 14L/s x 9.81 x 0.75 = 515 watts of power.
A 500W Hydro turbine may not sound very big, but it runs 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. It will produce around 4,000kWh per year and a reasonably energy efficient house will use about 5,000kWh per year. A 1kw hydro generator (1,000W hydro turbine) will produce as much as the most profligate user will need. We explore the issues below.
The Costs of a hydro power turbine installation
The cost of a hydro power turbine installation varies enormously from site to site. The biggest influence on price is the terrain — the size of the stream, its steepness, the landscape, trees, depth of soil and so on. To give an order of magnitude, a ‘typical’ 1kW hydro turbine system will cost something in the region of £10,000 to £20,000, but in reality there is no ‘typical’ site. The size of the hydro generator ( 1kw hydro turbine generator, 2kW hydro turbine, etc) will only have a small effect on cost.
The installer will also be an issue and therein lies perhaps the biggest problem. In short, there is a shortage of supply. The bigger companies are not interested in projects of less than 5kW capacity – they can’t charge enough – and the small companies have so much work that some are booking projects two years in advance.
The problem is beginning to be addressed with training courses for potential installers springing up. It seems that it is finally being recognised that areas such as Wales, Scotland, and the Peak and Lake Districts have excellent potential for small, low-cost hydro systems.
Grid Connection or Battery Storage?
Although a 1kW hydro turbine will produce almost twice as much electricity as will be used over the year, it will not produce enough at any one time to even boil a kettle. The maximum output is 1kW and a kettle could be 3kW. The answer is usually to either sell the excess electricity to the grid, and buy back what you need, or store it in batteries.
A battery bank will add to the capital cost: batteries need storage space, maintenance, have a shorter life than the hydro turbine and present a disposal problem. So grid connection is generally the option taken. There is also a cost benefit to using the grid which legislation planned for will improve. The current position is that the local power company is keen to buy electricity from zerocarbon sources. Scottish & Southern, for instance, are currently offering 18p/kWh for electricity from hydro installations, while they sell it back at around 14p/kWh. A 1kW turbine will produce around 8,000kWh per year (the average house will use about 5,000kWh per year). The electricity sold to the grid is worth £1,440 and the electricity bought costs £700. Next year’s legislation may mean that all generating companies will have to offer a similar price.
Using Streams
A stream, of any size, is an ecosystem to itself and it would be damaging, not to say unlawful, to divert all the water to a hydro turbine. The proportion of water that is safe to use will vary with the type and condition of the stream. In all cases the Environment Agency must be consulted as it will have the say as to what can and cannot be done. Hydro turbines do not introduce any pollutants, but it may be that your stream supports particularly sensitive fauna and you cannot take much or any water.
The Key Benefits of Hydro Turbine
A very high efficiency (70-90%)— the best of all renewable technologies
A high level of predictably, varying with annual rainfall patterns
Hydro systems last for 50 years or so — much longer than comparable technologies
So Why Isn’t It More Popular?
So why are we not all doing it? Most obviously because we don’t all have a stream. Less obviously, because most people with a stream think that: a) it is not big enough or b) hydro power will be too expensive. Whether the stream is big enough or not can only be established with a site survey. That may cost £300 or £400 but could be a very worthwhile investment.
Is it too expensive? One way of looking at it is that a £20,000 investment in a 1kW turbine installation will fix the price of your electricity at around 8p/kWh for the next 30 years. In addition, you will add that value to your property, be immune to energy price fluctuations and save a whopping 103 tonnes of CO2.
The actually price of 1kw hydro turbine, 2kw micro hydro power turbine?
Some people also ask: How much is a water turbine? The cost of 1kw hydro turbine, 2kW micro hydro power turbine is not as high as we think. You need to pay for the hydro turbine generator and installation. The actually cost of hydroelectric power installation is not very high as you think, you can come to the water site to measure the waterhead and water flow. When you have the measurement data of waterhead and water flow. We calculated the right sizes of hydro turbines, The total cost is around US$3,000.00 to US$5,000.00
You will have electricity around 8p/kWh for the next 20-30 years. So, the Cost of micro hydro electric power system is not that much as you save the money in the long time run.
For more information, please visit retaining dam.
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