The Corps currently operates 75 hydropower plants nationwide, which generate 68 billion kilowatt-hours of power per year. Corps hydropower plants account for 3 percent of the nation's total electrical capacity. The Corps largest hydropower plants are located in the Pacific Northwest, but there also are important projects in Midwest, South Central and South Atlantic states.

As concerns about the nation's limited energy resources grow, the Corps is working to increase hydropower output, efficiency, and reliability by upgrading and modernizing its facilities. Approximately two to three facilities per year are being renovated.

For instance, the Corps is in the process of installing seven new turbines at the J. Strom Thurmond hydropower plant in South Carolina. The turbines incorporate a new technology called autoventing, which will improve dissolved oxygen levels in the water, benefiting fish and other aquatic life on the Savannah River. The $6 million turbine installation is part of a $70 million rehabilitation of the plant.

revised 13 Jan 2011

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Institute for Water Resources | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers