Bentek, the natural gas analysis group, figures that hydro generation will be 35% higher than usual this year, averaging 166 gigawatt-hours per day from January through August.

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The growth of hydro generation over the last five years is equal to all the other renewable technologies combined, mainly because of the immense Chinese dam projects.

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The BPA continues to express concerns that wind operators will force it to reserve a greater percentage of its hydro generation as backup reserves and could ultimately compromise operations if too much water builds up.

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There is also a need to develop as yet absent resources including electricity through hydro electric generation or possible wind generation.

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Consider Portland General Electric: The utility is reinvesting in its infrastructure while its portfolio mix remains diversified: It has a quarter of its generation in hydro and wind, a quarter in coal and a quarter in natural gas.

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Electricity generation from renewables (including conventional hydro) grew from approximately 9 percent of the U.S. electricity generation mix in 2007 to 13 percent in 2012.

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Only after the cost of generation and storage of renewable energy matches the cost of on-demand generation from fossil, nuclear and hydro we will we see a transformation of the energy industry.

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Therefore the annual generation is more predictable than wind or hydro.

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Coal, used to produce steel, is also a viable replacement for oil, with its adoption for energy generation expected to grow incrementally more than natural gas, oil, hydro, solar, biomass, and geothermal combines over the next decade, according to Peabody.

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