Orders for more than 200 MW of hydroelectric turbines and generators are the strongest sign yet that construction will actually begin on a pair of Ohio River locks and dams that developers have targeted for more than two decades. Having ordered the equipment, Columbus-based American Municipal Power-Ohio Inc. also has signed up contractors for two sites and is “in the final stage of negotiations” for the third, says a company officer. Commercial operation now is scheduled for 2012.

MWH Americas Inc.

MWH Americas Inc. Geotechnical drilling last winter provided the data required to issue solicitations for the cofferdam and excavation.

In June, AMP-Ohio and Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation, York, Pa., signed an agreement valued at more than $300 million for Voith Siemens to deliver the equipment to add hydro-generation capacity at Smithland, Cannelton and Willow Island locks and dams.

Developers since the 1980s have repeatedly attempted to add hydroelectric capacity at Smithland, in Livingston County, Ky., and Cannelton, in Cannelton, Ind. Their efforts were frustrated in part because their cost of electricity was not competitive. But AMP-Ohio is a nonprofit company, so its low overhead and access to tax-exempt funding helps keep costs down, says Phil Meier, assistant vice president hydroelectric development. AMP has obtained more than $20 million in zero-interest certified renewable-energy bonds, he says. Meier also cites the economies of scale in developing three very similar projects simultaneously and the rising cost of other types of power generation.

MWH Americas Inc., Chicago, is the owner's engineer, with responsibility for planning, design and construction management for the program, now estimated at just over $1 billion. Kiewit Corp., Omaha, has been awarded the contract for cofferdam and excavation at Cannelton, where three units will be added to generate 88 MW. The Ruhlin Co., Sharon Center, Ohio, has the contract for cofferdam and excavation at Willow Island Locks and Dam, Waverly, W.Va., where AMP will install two turbines totaling 44 MW. Negotiations are still in progress for Smithland, says Meier. That dam will get three units for 76 MW of capacity. “We anticipate starting cofferdam construction later this year or early next year,” says Meier.

A fourth site, Captain Meldahl Lock and Dam, Chilo, Ohio, will add 105 MW but will lag the AMP projects by about a year, says Meier. One of AMP-Ohio's members, the City of Hamilton, Ohio, received the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license for that project.

One of the biggest challenges on the project has been the schedule, which FERC set, says Craig Harris, MWH project manager. Conceptual design, hydraulic modeling, geotechnical drilling and surveying all proceeded simultaneously, he says. “FERC wanted to make sure the project went forward,” adds Meier.

The rest of the schedule will be more typical of other projects, Harris says. MWH will issue solicitations later this fall for long-lead items like overhead cranes, gates and power transformers. Much of the major equipment will come from overseas. “There are not many U.S. suppliers of large equipment,” says Meier.

But Voith Siemens will manufacture many of the turbine components in York. If Ohio offers “appropriate state incentives,” Voith also may open a new plant in that state, officials say. “These projects represent the largest order in our 131-year history in the U.S.,” says E. Mark Garner, Voith Siemens president and CEO.