For American Municipal Power Inc., a nonprofit wholesale power supplier to municipal electric systems based in Columbus, Ohio, hydropower is the No. 1 renewable energy source. To this end, AMP is moving forward with four developments along the Ohio River that will provide more than 300 megawatts of generating capacity for a majority of its 129 members in seven states.
AMP Chief Executive Officer Marc Gerken says hydropower has been “largely ignored” in recent discussions about alternative energy. “Hydro is not a new, shiny, sexy technology,” he said. It’s true, hydropower is not new. Hydroelectric generation comprised about 40 percent of total generation in the early 1900s. But by 2011, hydroelectricity accounted for just 7 percent, according to the National Hydropower Association.
The 72-megawatt Smithland project near Smithland, Ky., just one of AMP's four developments, will divert water from Smithland Locks and Dam through three horizontal 25.3-megawatt bulb turbines to generate an average gross annual output of about 379 gigawatt hours. The gross head of the project is 22 feet. The site will include an intake approach channel, a reinforced concrete powerhouse and a tailrace channel. A two-mile-long 161-kilovolt transmission line interconnection is planned to connect to MISO.
The $450 million Smithland project experienced some construction delays in May 2011 when continuous rains and backwater effect from the Mississippi River caused water to rise nearly to the crest of the cofferdam being installed to construct the powerhouse. Elevation at that part of the river had not reached such levels since 1937.
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