Hydropower

America has relied on hydropower to generate electricity for over 100 years. Today, 6% of U.S. electricity is generated from hydropower. Hydroelectric power plants are about 90% efficient at converting water energy into electricity. This makes hydropower one of the most efficient energy sources available today.

In the U.S. there are approximately 90,000 dams, but less than 3% of these dams produce power. FDE Hydro™ solutions focus on the 12,000 MWs of potential energy existing at these sites, many of which are under government custody and control. Our solutions also address the 65,000 MWs of untapped natural run-of-river sites using modular precast civil construction.

Civil construction costs are the largest component cost of new hydropower construction. FDE Hydro™ has developed solutions to significantly reduce the cost for new hydropower construction by applying modular, precast methods and means – a proven technique in nearly every other infrastructure market in the world. We are prepared to revolutionize the way new hydro projects are constructed. Modular Precast reduces time, cost and risk.

Bowersock Hydropower facility during construction of powerhouse (precast and prestressed modules), Lawrence KA

Bowersock Hydropower facility during construction of powerhouse (precast and prestressed modules), Lawrence KS

Decommissioning the Dam in 90 min

October 2, 2017. It took a crew of 4 men and 110-ton hydraulic crane 90 minutes to disassemble and reconfigure the module French Dam system transforming it into a new configuration. The existing dams’ dimensions were 24 ft wide and 16 ft high. We reconfigured the same modules into a simulated new dam system that was a 48 ft wide by 8 ft high water control system using the exact same modules. The advantage of the French Dam modular system is that it can be decommissioned with minimal impact to the existing environment and reduce risk to the surrounding aquatic life.