Dee Hydro Project uses an in-conduit hydropower system to produce clean energy

^{City representatives celebrated the completion of their renewable energy project Dee Hydro with a ribbon-cutting ceremony alongside project partners.}

Dee Hydro: Harnessing our Water for Clean Energy

The City of Hood River is celebrating the completion of the Dee Hydro Project, an in-conduit hydropower project that uses an existing resource, water flowing through the City’s water system, to produce clean energy. The City recently celebrated this milestone with a small ribbon-cutting ceremony alongside the partners who helped to make this project a success.

In 2018, the City adopted the Hood River County Energy Plan, which established a vision of improving community resilience, energy independence and economic benefits while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Dee Hydro puts that plan into action, which specifically identifies in-conduit hydropower as a strategy. The system captures the energy produced by the City’s highly pressurized water moving through its own infrastructure at a pressure-reducing station.

*^{City of Hood River Public Works director gave representatives from the Energy Trust of Oregon a tour of the Dee Hydro, the City’s recently completed in-conduit hydropower project.}*

However, accomplishing this project was neither simple nor straightforward. The project received funding support from the Energy Trust of Oregon and the Oregon Department of Energy, which helped make construction possible. But, even with funding in place, the project required navigating a private property easement, water rights approvals, pressure surge analysis, electrical interconnection and a host of other technical and regulatory details.

Despite these challenges, the Hood River City Council remained committed to finding solutions and bringing the project to completion. Dee Hydro represents an important step toward advancing the City’s energy goals, reducing and offsetting carbon dioxide emissions, and increasing the use of renewable energy within City operations.

Over its first 30 years, the project is expected to generate roughly 16 million kilowatt hours of electricity. With the project now operational, the City will be able to track its actual energy production and better understand its contribution towards long-term sustainability goals.

Thank you to the Energy Trust of Oregon, Oregon Department of Energy, NLine Energy, Hood River Energy Council, Pacific Power, Ajax Northwest and their subcontractors, and City of Hood River Councilors and staff who helped to make Dee Hydro possible.

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