Hydropower & renewables

Hydropower

• Improved water supplies on the US West Coast have resulted in a sharp increase in hydropower generation. The EIA said that electricity generated by hydropower in the region served by the California Independent System Operator was up by 3.2 TWh during the summer (June-August) compared with the same period last year. Generation from other renewable energy sources was up by 2.3 TWh during the same period. A 5.8 TWh decline in the region’s thermal generation, almost all of which is fuelled by gas, partially offset this increase.
• Hydropower levels in Latin America have strengthened as a result of the end of the El Niño weather pattern, a trend that will be accelerated by the switch to La Niña. Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy forecasts that hydropower’s share of electricity generation will rise to 69.8% in 2016 compared with 64% in 2015. Hydropower and other renewables will account for 82.9% of Brazil’s electricity supply in 2016, up from 75.5% in 2015.