US utility Minnesota Power looks set to buy hydroelectricity from Canada’s Manitoba Hydro after the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved a 15-year agreement.

Environmental consultancy firm Sustainable Direction Ltd has announced it is advising on a major scheme to create a network of 2000 tide-powered electricity generating turbines off the coast of Alderney in the Channel Islands.

Puget Sound Energy is currently carrying out refurbishment of its Snoqualmie Falls hydropower project, which is one of the oldest hydro stations in the US. Here Andy Hunting and Elizabeth Dubreuil take a historical look at what was the world’s first underground hydro plant.

While agriculture in many regions is served by irrigation and more projects are built or modernised, water availability and its efficient use are of increasing concern, as Patrick Reynolds reports