U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu issued the following statement on the completion and startup today of the Abiquiu Hydropower Project in New Mexico – the first hydropower project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to be completed nationwide.
The project received a $4.5 million Recovery Act grant from the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Wind and Water Power Program, which was leveraged with $4.5 million from the private sector to fully fund the project. The low-flow turbine will increase renewable energy generation capacity by 22 %at the Abiquiu facility – from 13.8 megawatts to 16.8 megawatts. The new turbine will produce enough energy to power 1,100 homes annually and will supply clean energy to Los Alamos County, including DOE's Los Alamos National Laboratory. Hydropower projects at both new and existing facilities will play an important role in meeting President Obama's bold but ambitious goal of generating 80 % of America's electricity from clean energy sources by 2035.
Read more at EERE