Alcoa has kicked off a $110 million modernization project at Cheoah dam and hydropower plant, one of four hydroelectric power facilities that make up Alcoa Power Generating Inc.'s Tapoco Project.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded Andritz Hydro Corp. an $8.3 million contract to replace equipment in the Snake River excitation system, encompassing exciters in three hydropower projects in Washington.

Provincial utility BC Hydro intends to invest more than C$1 billion beginning in 2012 to upgrade three hydropower facilities in the Campbell River region of British Columbia's Vancouver Island, wire services reported.

SN Aboitiz Power-Benguet Inc. plans to work with local government and community groups to rehabilitate and refurbish the Binga hydropower plant in the Philippines, regional media reported.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $2.9 million contract to Washington-based K&N Electric Motors Inc. for rehabilitation of a 600-ton bridge crane in the powerhouse of the 810-MW Lower Monumental hydroelectric project on the Snake River in Washington.

Emerson Process Management has been awarded a US$28 million contract from UkrHydroEnergo for automation systems to manage and control 100 turbine generators in nine hydroelectric power plants. UkrHydroEnergo is the main hydropower generating company of Ukraine.

The Bureau of Reclamation awarded Washington-based Knight Construction & Supply Inc. a US$1.5 million contract for modifications to a wheel-mounted gate servicing chamber in the Third Powerplant at the 6,809-MW Grand Coulee hydroelectric project.

The United States Bureau of Reclamation has awarded American Governor Company a contract to upgrade the six existing analog cabinet actuator governors in the Grand Coulee hydroelectric project's Third Powerhouse with digital governor systems and accessory equipment. The contract announcement was made at HydroVision International in Charlotte, N.C.

Russian hydropower generator Irkutskenergo plans to invest about 1 billion rubles (US$32.7 million) in the upgrade of the Ust-Ilimskaya hydropower plant in the Irkutsk Region by 2014, wire services reported.

Rehabilitation of the civil and electro-mechanical components of the 75-MW Ambuklao hydro plant is 75 percent complete, co-owner SN Aboitiz Power-Benguet Inc. (SNAP-Benguet) said in a disclosure with the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The World Bank has approved a credit worth US $146 million for the second phase of a project to rehabilitate and modernize the Jinnah Barrage on the Indus River and to improve irrigation and water management.

Voith Hydro has won a contract to supply equipment to rehabilitate the Rodund II hydropower plant in Austria, which was damaged during a fire last summer, Voith announced.

The New York Power Authority announced it is planning a major overhaul of the 2,755-MW Niagara Power Project’s Lewiston Pump Generating-Plant to extend the life of the hydroelectric project’s auxiliary facility and enhance its performance.

Brookfield Renewable Power announced that it has started the rehabilitation of the 5.5-MW Glen Ferris hydropower project located on the Kanawha River in Glen Ferris, West Virginia.

Emerson Process Management and Korea South East Power Company have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on modernizing hydro and thermal power plants and developing new ones in Korea, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America, Emerson announced.