Technical Approach

Hydroelectric power represents the most efficient form of renewable energy resources known. It is a proven technology with turbine efficiencies steadily increasing with design improvements. In order to select cost effective hydroelectric power sources, several factors were taken into consideration and supporting tasks undertaken. Sites were systematically selected which appeared to have hydroelectric power potential and also be cost effective. To that end, Symbiotics LLC submitted to the FERC over 250 applications for preliminary permits. This effort consisted of more applications than have ever been submitted to the FERC by any one entity.

Implementation of the initial task (Permit Application) involved the selection of 250 hydroelectric sites that would have minimal environmental concerns for permitting and project construction costs. Overall project implementation time schedules were also factors which weighed in the site selection process. The sites that were selected for further investigation and feasibility study used the following basic criteria:

1. Sites which had FERC permits at one time but were not built because of a poor or no power sales contract;
2. Sites with existing dams (the majority of the environmental impacts have already occurred at these sites); and,
3. Federal facilities (dams built by the Bureau of Reclamation or the Corps of Engineers), thus assuring quality design and construction of those existing facilities.

Symbiotics has undertaken an exhaustive search for projects that fit the above criteria. In the selection of existing dam sites, additional criteria were added to the selection process. These criteria included selecting federal dams that had the highest hydraulic head and hydrology to support flow regimes and thus the potential power at a site.

Symbiotics has, throughout 2001 and 2002, filed over 250 Preliminary Permit applications on the most advantageous sites, and maintains the first priority date (permittee has exclusive rights to develop the project for a period of three years) on 22 projects. Eleven other sites are pending. During this process, more than 130 additional sites (102 of which Symbiotics was issued a Preliminary Permit application) were researched and determined to be unfeasible. Symbiotics filed voluntary surrenders for these sites. Currently, permitted sites represent a combined capacity of 1,232 MW and an estimated annual generation of 215 gWh. Pending sites account for a potential annual generation of an additional 50 gWh (216 MW capacity).

Methodology of Database Development and Project Selection

To reach the goal of operating 15 newly built hydroelectric facilities with an annual generation of at least 380 gWh, Symbiotics LLC implemented a strategy that matched the observed behavior of the hydroelectric development industry. This observation showed that from the initial filing of a permit to the end of construction there was only a 10 percent success rate. In order to implement their business plan, they needed to manage this mortality rate to their benefit.

Potential sites were selected which had high hydroelectric potential not being utilized. It was estimated that approximately 250 to 300 sites where some data existed would need to be evaluated to determine site capacity (MW) and annual generation (gWh). These values allow the initial approximation of annual revenue and capital investment. Because the intent was to streamline the permitting process and reduce mortalities due to environmental reasons, sites were selected which were on existing reservoirs where no hydroelectric facilities were installed. An added benefit of this approach was that building on existing structures minimizes environmental concerns and represents a renewable resource, and is therefore eligible for greenhouse gas credits.

To start the development of the database from which to select possible sites, the National Inventory of Dams (NID) dataset for the United States was obtained. This database had information on over 30,000 dams. A second database was acquired from a $23M study conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy through the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. This study examined the feasibility of hydroelectric power at a large number of sites with and without dams. The final two databases documented facilities built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These separate databases were combined into one, and the best sites were selected based upon capacity, annual generation, and low environmental sensitivity.