WASHINGTON, D.C. 12/29/11 (PennWell) -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is requesting information from hydropower owners, operators, equipment manufacturers, consultants, and project and technology developers concerning the improvement of America's existing hydroelectric facilities.

This Request For Information (RFI) was prompted by the National Hydropower Asset Assessment Project (NHAAP) being conducted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which was initiated in 2010.

The study shows that the U.S. currently has an installed hydroelectric capacity of about 78 GW and also that hydropower output could be increased significantly through the improvement and expansion of existing equipment and facilities.

DOE estimates this additional output to be between 8 and 16 GW of capacity and about 55 TWh of annual generation. Additionally, DOE has created the Hydropower Advancement Project (HAP) to better detail the implementation of this plan.

A full copy of the stakeholder RFI can be found at FedConnect. The document can be accessed by opening the "BODY" link under the "Documentation" heading on the right side of the page.

Reponses must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. EDT on Feb. 6, 2012.