US
Hydropower
Council for International Development
1500 K Street, NW, Suite 330 Washington, DC 20005 t 202.383.2536 f 202.383.2555
US Hydropower Update
May –
July 2003
Updates On -
·
Congressional
Appropriations Request for 2004
·
Mexico and
Central America Activities
Agency Visits -
US Hydropower staff will be working to schedule visits with USDOE and USAID mid to late May. US Hydropower industry leadership will meet with Assistant Secretary level representatives in offices with responsibility for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency and International Policy.
Program Request For 2004 -
US Hydropower has been working on the 2004 appropriations process. US Hydropower staff supported by member company representatives are working with several house and senate offices including Knollenberg, Nethercutt, Jackson, Obey, Hobson, Stevens, DeWine, Byrd, Durbin, Specter, Murray, and Burns to build a $4 million multiagency public private sector program to support our efforts. This year we have been working with members of the foreign operations and energy and water subcommittees to establish programs with US Department of State, the US Agency for International Development, and the US Department of Energy.
Mexico and Central America Activities—
There are several activities planned. These include;
· USTDA/USAID/US Hydropower Mexican Delegation Visit --May 2003
· USAID Mexico strategic planning session--June 10-12, 2003
· Prioritization of rehabilitation opportunities and small projects in Mexico --July-September 2003
Brazil Activities—
USAID Brazil meetings were conducted April 28-June 2 in Brasilia. The USAID Brazil Mission expressed interest in defining a multi-year program to prioritize small and medium private hydropower projects and rehabilitation opportunities. US Hydropower staff and interested membership are currently designing this program.
India Activities—
Several projects will go to financial closure over the next few months in the state of Himachal Pradesh. A visit last month and several near term activities are planned in this market. These include;
·
Recent
US Consortium Meetings in India (April
14-18, 2003)
·
Minister of
Non Conventional Energy Sources and head of the Indian Renewable Development
agency will meet with EXIM officials to finalize a finance structure for small
hydropower and rehabilitation projects (May 15)
·
Indo-US
Parliamentary Forum in DC (June 3-5); topics to include water, trade and
defense
·
TDA-supported Orientation
Visit by Indian government and industry representatives
(July 2003); project
presentations by Indian side in Washington; visits to US Companies
·
Feasibility
studies of select projects (July-September 2003)
·
Major
US industry mission to India (10-14 days, September/October 2003)
Russia and NIS Countries—
US Hydropower has been asked to work with the US Department of Energy on creating a program to identify and implement rehabilitation projects in Russia and other key NIS markets. The program is seeking support from other federal agencies and is expected to move ahead over the coming months. Identification of prioritized rehabilitation projects is already underway.
News from USDOC--HYDROPOWER PLANT UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN KYRGYZSTAN
The construction of the second Kambar-Ata hydropower plant has begun in the Jalalabad region in south Kyrgyzstan.
This is a state project, and the government has assigned over 100 million soms for it.
It will cost $260 million to build the power plant. Kambar-Ata-2 is expected to produce up to 4.5 million kilowatt/hours of electricity per year.
"The Kyrgyz government will construct the power plant with its own funds.
Later on, it will either invite investors or set up a Kyrgyz- Russian-Kazakh consortium," Director General of the Power Plants Company Sagynbek Dordoyev said at a briefing on Thursday.
"Some of the electricity that the Kambar-Ata-2 will generate will be exported to Russia, Kazakhstan, China and Pakistan," Dordoyev said.
A Russian-Kyrgyz intergovernmental agreement was signed in April to supply 1.5 billion kilowatt/hours of electricity from Kyrgyzstan to Russia's Omsk region starting in 2003, he said. The electricity will be supplied via Kazakhstan on substitution terms. "Aspects of the electricity supplies are being coordinated with that country," Dordoyev said.
******************************************************************************
Your comments or requests for more information are welcome. Please contact US Hydropower’s Director of Trade Promotion, Debby Stone 202.383.2536 or by Email: debbys@us-hydropower.org