HYDROPOWER PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT IN THE US

According to the 2021 Hydropower Market Report, Hydropower capacity has increased by a net of 431 MW since 2017, with a total net growth of 1,68 MW from 2010-2019. At the end of 2019, an additional 1,490 MW from 217 projects were in the U.S. development pipeline, in which 93% of proposed capacity is from powering non-powered dams and expanding existing facilities. The following figure presents the hydropower project development pipeline by project type, region, size, and development stage.[1]

Source: U.S. Hydropower Market Report, 2021[2]

The number of pumped storage hydropower (PSH) projects in development increased by 31% in 2019. Sixty-seven new PSH projects with a total proposed capacity of 52.48 GW were in development by the end of 2019. Twenty-one states have at least one new PSH project planned. The map below provides a visual of the PSH projects in development by region and status related to renewable energy targets.[3]

Source: U.S. Hydropower Market Report, 2021[4]

HydroSource is an excellent source of data on existing US hydropower facilities and projects that are in development.

Updated by Erin Bennett, June 2022