That's why the federal government's "National Energy Plan" was created, to ensure "a clean, reliable and affordable supply of energy," says David K. Garman, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy (Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy). As a part of this plan, Garman hopes to stabilize the dramatic variations in energy prices across the U.S. market. The German company Voith, for decades a leader in the construction of hydroelectric turbines, supports that initiative: "These measures are critically important to the American economy as well as its consumers and we're very pleased to help by providing our technical know-how," says Dr. Hubert Lienhard, Voith Executive Director for Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation. Dr. Lienhard thereby continues a tradition begun by Hans Voith in 1903, when the first Voith-Turbines were installed in the world's largest hydroelectric power plant at Niagara Falls.
Since 1999, those turbines have stood still. "But they have been routinely serviced and could begin producing power at any time," Dr. Lienhard says. 100 years ago at Niagara Falls, the economic stimulus given to the region by the power plant was significant. Supplied by a reliable, efficient supply of hydroelectric power, the area around Niagara Falls gained a commercial significance similar to today's Silicon Valley. "As early as 1903 it was clear that an independent supply of energy was a motor for economic growth," Dr. Lienhard says.
In all, 275.6 billion kWh are delivered by hydroelectric power in the U.S., representing about 9% of the total power used across the country; hydroelectric represents about 75% of the energy produced from renewable sources.
"To a large extent, the enormous potential of our national resources for wind and water generated power remains unused today," says the Energy Department's Garman, who says he hopes to change that fact through the 'Wind & Hydropower Technologies Program'.
The wind and hydropower program, he says, "will permit greater use of our domestic resources for power production and that will also help to stabilize the fluctuating costs of energy. In addition, this program improves the reliability of power supplies and takes ecological concerns into account like never before."
That's one reason why current R&D activities are focusing on water-powered turbines that reduce the risk of injury to fish. Technologies that can raise the level of oxygen in rivers are also desired, to compensate for harmful effects to wildlife brought on by standing water reservoirs.
The development of advanced turbines to meet these requirements has been going on for many years at Voith Siemens Hydropower Generation - the Voith unit responsible for hydroelectric power. Dr. Lienhard adds, "Some U.S. hydroelectric power plants are already using the newest Voith-Technology to protect fish and other marine life from death in a turbine."
The fact that the U.S. administration has budgeted $50 million for the development of wind and water power is something he considers to be an important indication of the leading role that renewable energy will play in the U.S. Garman says the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is making more than $1 billion available to R&D efforts.
This funding for R&D is badly needed, especially when one considers that U.S. energy consumption far exceeds its energy production. Estimates also predict that the level of consumption will increase. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) believes that by 2025, current overall consumption of 99.38 trillion British thermal units (Btu) will increase to 139 trillion Btu. And in the field of renewable energy, they also expect to see an increase of consumption from 5.96 to 8.78 trillion Btu. EIA projections are for U.S. energy production to increase only slightly, from 72.15 to 89.83 trillion Btu.
Considering the disruptions to daily life caused by the dramatic blackouts across North America late this summer, additional investments in reliable energy supplies such as hydroelectric power production are required to satisfy an increasing demand for energy.
"The importance of hydropower to our nation's electricity grid was again confirmed during the massive blackout," says Linda Church Ciocci, executive director of the National Hydropower Association (NHA). "As we learned from several officials, hydroelectric power projects in upstate New York and several other states continued to run, leading the way to restoring power to millions of Americans."
