HydroLand buys century-old run-of-river duo in N Carolina

US renewables company HydroLand announced that it has acquired two small hydroelectric stations totalling just over 2 MW from Northbrook Carolina Hydro II, LLC.

The two micro run-of-river stations are almost 100 years, and were previously owned by US utility Duke Energy Corp (NYSE:DUK), which invested over USD 16 million (EUR 13.5m) in repairs and upgrades, HydroLand said in a press release on Thursday.

The 0.98-MW Bryson facility sits on Lake Ela on the Oconaluftee River in Bryson City in Swain County, North Carolina. It was built in 1924.

The 1.04-MW Franklin plant, located on the Little Tennessee River at Lake Emory in Franklin in Macon County, North Carolina, came to life in 1925.

In 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued 30-year hydropower licences to both plants, authorising their operation until mid-2041, according to HydroLand.

HydroLand is focused on acquiring and retrofitting aging hydroelectric plants across the US rivers. The latest purchase will add to the 25-MW portfolio of 13 run-of-river plants acquired from Enel Green Power North America Inc earlier this year.

The company said these acquisitions are one of many more to come.

"Since our acquisition of the Enel portfolio, we have been executing our plan to modernize and upgrade acquired hydroelectric facilities while building our portfolio with new acquisitions," said HydroLand CEO Cory Lagerstrom. "These two North Carolina facilities are excellent additions to our hydro-upgrading program".

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.843)

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