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02 MARKET AND INDUSTRY TRENDS
Hydropower capacity in Brazil increased in 2015 by 2.5 GW
(2.8%), including 2.3 GW of large-scalei hydro (>30 MW) capacity,
for a year-end total of 91.7 GW. 10 Despite the increase in capacity,
hydropower output, at 382 TWh, dropped again (2.7% relative to
2014) due to continuing drought conditions. Between 2011 and
2015, Brazil’s hydropower output declined about 15%, even as
capacity expanded by about 11%. 11 New capacity is being built in
a manner to improve the power system’s resilience to drought. 12
In 2015, 17 additional 75 MW turbines (1,275 MW) became
operational at Brazil’s Jirau plant, with just over 3 GW in place
by year’s end. 13 Jirau’s sister plant, Santo Antonio (3.57 GW when
completed), also along the Madeira River, added three units
(212 MW) for a total of 2.5 GW. 14 Two units (728 MW) came online
at the Teles Pires plant, which will yield 1.82 GW when completed. 15
The 11.2 GW Belo Monte was partially commissioned in early
2016, with full commissioning to follow when new transmission
infrastructure is in place. Transmission lines continue to be one
of the main bottlenecks for development of renewable energy
projects in Brazil, with the majority of the country’s transmission
projects behind schedule. 16
Turkey appears to be on track to achieve its target of 34 GW of
hydropower capacity by 2023; this target is part of the country’s
plan to pursue all available resources to meet rapidly growing
electricity demand. 17 Turkey added 2.2 GW in 2015, bringing the
total to 25.9 GW. 18 Hydropower production has been affected by
severe fluctuations in rainfall: following a particularly dry period
and sharp drop in output in 2014, production rebounded in 2015
by nearly 66%, to 66.9 TWh. 19
India ranked fourth for new installations. In 2015, the country
brought online approximately 1.9 GW of new hydropower
capacity, most (1.8 GW) of which was in the category of largescale
hydro (>25 MW per facility), and ended the year with a total
of 47 GW. Generation in 2015 was an estimated 135 TWh; output
of large-scale facilities was 123 TWh, a drop of 5.7% from 2014. 20
Completed facilities included the 800 MW Koldam project; this
plant in the lap of the Himalayas in the northern state of Himachal
Pradesh was long-delayed due to ecological and geological
concerns. 21 In the state of Uttarakhand, the 330 MW Shrinagar
run-of-river project started operation, with a portion of the plant’s
output designated for local consumption at no charge. 22
Neighbouring Bhutan completed the 126 MW Dagachhu runof-river
station, the first transboundary Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) project registered with the UNFCCC. 23 All
of the plant’s output is destined for the Indian power market. 24
In Nepal, construction of new plants, such as the 111 MW
Rasuwagadi and the 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi, suffered severe
setbacks due to damage from the April 2015 earthquake and its
aftershocks. 25 Nepal temporarily lost 150 MW of hydropower
capability (about 30% of total), exacerbating an already severe
electricity shortfall. 26
Vietnam, which ranked fifth for installations, added a little over
1 GW of capacity in 2015. New capacity included the first of
three 400 MW units at the Lai Chau plant; when completed, it
will be Vietnam’s third largest hydropower facility. 27 The country
also commissioned the first of two 260 MW units at the Huoi
Quang plant, with the second to follow in 2016. 28 Serious drought
conditions have depleted Vietnam’s reservoirs and strained
hydropower production. 29
Several other countries in the region completed projects during
the year, including: Malaysia brought online the remaining
708 MW of the 944 MW Murun plant; Lao PDR finalised about
600 MW, including the 180 MW Nam Ngiep 2 plant, which has
specially designed turbines for its head height of 495 metres;
and Cambodia bolstered its inadequate electricity supply with
the 338 MW Russei Chrum River dam (financed and built by
Chinese corporations). 30 Myanmar completed a 140 MW plant on
the Paunglaung River, which the government considered a major
success in dealing with challenges posed by rapidly increasing
power demand and very limited access to electricity, while
overcoming significant population resettlement challenges. 31
In March 2016, on the eve of the bi-annual meeting of the
Mekong River Commission, China announced plans to release
additional water into the downstream portions of the Mekong
River, continuing into early April 2016 to help alleviate severe
water shortages in the drought-stricken downstream countries of
Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. 32
In North America, the United States continued to rank third
globally for installed hydropower capacity but added only 70 MW
to its grid in 2015, for a year-end total of 79.7 GW. 33 The country
experienced a fourth consecutive year of decline in output due
to unfavourable hydrological conditions, with generation of 251
TWh, 7.6% below the average for the preceding decade. 34
Canada completed 0.7 GW of new facilities and expansions in 2015,
raising total installed capacity to 79 GW, while maintaining output
at 376 TWh for the year. 35 British Columbia’s Waneta expansion
project added 335 MW to an existing facility, cost-effectively
capturing power from flow that otherwise would be spilled. 36
Also in 2015, the 270 MW Romaine-1 project – the second of four
planned cascading plants – was completed in Québec. 37
The Russian Federation continued to rank fifth globally for total
installed capacity, adding a net of 143 MW in 2015 for a year-end
total of 47.9 GW. 38 Hydropower generation (160 TWh) was down
4.1% relative to 2014. 39 RusHydro completed several refurbishment
projects in 2015 and had plans to continue modernisation efforts
for improved reliability, efficiency and security. 40 The Russian
Federation's Boguchanskaya plant, which saw completion of
the last of nine 333 MW units in late 2014, achieved an effective
capacity of 3 GW when its vast reservoir finally reached design
capacity in June 2015. 41 Following transmission and other
plant upgrades, the effective capacity of the restored Sayano-
Shushenskaya plant (6.4 GW) increased by another 700 MW, for
a total of 5.1 GW. 42
In Africa, Ethiopia neared completion of its 1.87 GW Gibe III plant,
after nine years of construction, bringing 2 of the project’s 10
turbines into service. Gibe III has one of the tallest concrete dams
(246 metres) of its type in the world. 43 As of early 2016, UNESCO’s
World Heritage Centre continued to monitor the project’s social
and ecological impacts. 44 Once completed, the plant is expected
to increase Ethiopia’s electricity supply significantly and to pave
the way for the country to become a major power exporter. 45
i Brazil reports hydropower capacity separately by size category, at the thresholds of 1 MW (very small) and 30 MW (small). India reports hydropower above
a threshold of 25 MW, separately from smaller facilities.
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