Northwest Hydropower News

Associated Press
Seattle Times

LONGVIEW, Wash. — Officials expect a $60 million energy conservation project at the Norpac paper mill in Longview will make it more competitive and save electricity for the region.

The Daily News reports (http://is.gd/wo4QSe) the new equipment celebrated at a ribbon-cutting Thursday will reduce the amount of energy used at the mill, which is jointly owned by Weyerhaeuser and Nippon Paper Industries of Japan.

Weyerhaeuser is financing $35 million of the project. The Cowlitz PUD is contributing $4 million and the Bonneville Power Administration $21 million. They say the improvements at the mill will save low-cost hydropower and reduce the utility’s need to buy more-expensive energy. Read more.

By Christian Wihtol
The Register-Guard

COTTAGE GROVE — After nearly a decade of planning, an energy company has begun building a powerhouse to generate electricity from water flowing at Dorena Dam southeast of Cottage Grove.

The work began in late June and is expected to take a year.

The power project’s owner is Idaho-based Symbiotics, a branch of Riverbank Power, a privately held Toronto company that’s pursuing hydroelectric projects in the United States, Peru and Chile.

Riverbank Power in mid-May announced that it had secured $38 million in loans to finance the 7.5-megawatt Dorena project and the 4.7-megawatt Clark Canyon hydroelectric project in Montana.

The company has not said how much the Dorena project is costing, but officials at the Emerald People’s Utility District, which until last year was involved in the undertaking, estimated its cost at $20 million. Read more.

By Bianca Fortis
The Centralia Chronicle

As the last part of a $30 million overhaul of the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery, Tacoma Public Utilities has completed a $481,000 remodel of the hatchery’s visitor center.

The grand opening of the center was last week.

Chris Gleason, the community and media services manager at Tacoma Public Utilities, said the hatchery had a welcome center before the remodeling, but it was outdated and visitors would often leave disappointed.

“We wanted to make this a destination where people will walk away informed, not disappointed,” Gleason said.

The focus of the center is an “interactive survival maze,” in which visitors can track the life cycle of salmon, which are represented by marbles.Read more

By Frank Jordans
Associated Press

GENEVA — Global investment in renewable energy reached a record of $257 billion last year, with solar attracting more than half the total spending, according to a U.N. report released Monday.

Investment in solar energy surged to $147 billion in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 52 percent thanks to strong demand for rooftop photovoltaic installations in Germany, Italy, China and Britain.

Large-scale solar thermal installations in Spain and the United States also contributed to growth during a fiercely competitive year for the solar industry. Several large American and German manufacturers fell victim to price pressure from Chinese rivals that helped to halve the cost of photovoltaic modules in 2011. Read more.