July 6, 2017, Vancouver, BC, Canada – Knight Piésold had a multifaceted presence at this year’s HydroVision International, held on June 27-30 in Denver, CO, USA. Knight Piésold exhibited at the tradeshow floor and hydropower specialists from our Vancouver and Denver offices participated at the conference, from chairing sessions and acting as panelists to delivering presentations on award-winning projects.

More than 3,000 professionals from 54 countries gathered at the Colorado Convention Center for the largest hydro conference in the world, exploring current and future challenges affecting water resources. The conference involved over 400 industry experts delivering presentations in 66 conference sessions, organized under eight main tracks, such as new development, civil works and dam safety, small hydro, and water and environment.

Knight Piésold’s participation included:

1. Norm Bishop, senior vice president of hydropower and renewable energy, was the track chair for new development. This track included sessions that examined major forces that move new hydro forward and explored solutions for challenges along the way. He was also a panelist for Session 7F “Small Hydro in the U.S.: Relicense or Sell?” With projects having an installed capacity of less than 5 MW beginning relicensing processes, this session covered the key market drivers and impacts of changing market dynamics.
2. Sam Mottram, managing principal of power services, was the panel moderator for Session 5D “Global Snapshots – Case Studies of Hydropower and Pumped Storage Projects.” This session provided case studies of under construction or recently completed conventional hydro and pumped storage projects.
3. Jaime Cathcart, specialist hydrotechnical engineer, was a panel member for Session 6D “Managing Hydrology Risks – Does Mother Nature Always Bat Last?” This session discussed power contract management, financing arrangements, and effects of hydrology on financing decisions.
4. Rob Adams, specialist hydromechanical engineer, presented a paper titled “Capilano Break Head Tank and Energy Recovery Facility,” providing a project overview and detailing design considerations, control philosophy, and lessons learned. This award-winning project has one of the largest energy recovery turbines in a municipal treated potable water system in North America. This paper was among 15 technical papers recognized with Technical Papers of the Year awards, given to the conference’s strongest technical papers, winning first place in the water management and movement category.
5. Benoit Otis, senior engineer, presented a paper titled, “Design and Operation of the Multi-intake 16 MW Box Canyon Run-of-River Hydroelectric Project,” providing an overview of key design challenges and innovative solutions generated for the development of the project. This award-winning hydroelectric facility may have the most hydraulically complex design of any run-of-river hydroelectric project in North America, if not the world, with nine intake structures on different creeks and tributaries, all feeding into a single, high-pressure penstock.
6. Toby Perkins, senior engineer, presented a paper titled, “Design and Operation of the Multi-intake, Run-of-River Box Canyon Hydroelectric Project to Meet Water License Commitments,” giving an overview of the project’s key water license commitments and a description of intake designs to meet instream flow release and maximum diversion rate criteria. This project has multiple intake structures that address the unique hydrology, river morphology, and fish species distribution along different creeks and tributaries.

Knight Piésold continues to be a world leader in hydroelectric power development, working towards advancing the clean energy industry with innovative ideas and designs as highlighted in our contributions at the conference. HydroVision International will be held in Charlotte, NC next year on June 26-29, and Knight Piésold plans to have a strong presence as well.