INCREASING OPERATIONAL FLEXIBILITY OF EXISTING HYDROPOWER THROUGH NON-INTRUSIVE FEEDBACK CONTROL AND HYBRIDIZATION GE RESEARCH, IN COLLABORATION WITH FIRSTLIGHT POWER (FIRSTLIGHT), EAGLE CREEK RENEWABLE ENERGY (ECRE), AND GE RENEWABLE ENERGY, REPRESENTED BY ITS HYDRO BUSINESS (GEH), AIMS TO UNLOCK PREVIOUSLY UNTAPPED FLEXIBILITY WITHIN THE EXISTING HYDRO FLEET IN A MANNER THAT IS BOTH COST-EFFECTIVE AND QUICK-TO-IMPLEMENT. THE OVERALL GOAL IS TO DEVELOP QUICK AND AFFORDABLE WAYS TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF FLEXIBILITY FROM FRANCIS-DRIVEN HYDROPOWER AND PSH UNITS. THE PROJECT TEAM WILL TAKE TWO APPROACHES TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. FIRST, THE PROJECT TEAM WILL ASSESS THE REAL AND POTENTIAL BEHAVIOR OF INSTALLED EQUIPMENT AND THEIR CRITICAL COMPONENTS, USING FEEDBACK FROM THIS ASSESSMENT TO MODIFY OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS AND STRATEGIES. SECOND, THE TEAM WILL ATTEMPT TO INCREASE HYDROPOWER OPERATING RANGES THROUGH IMPLEMENTATION OF BATTERY CONTROLS.