Small Northwest Utility Floats Big Idea: $2.5 Billion Pumped Storage Project

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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A small public utility district in Washington state has a big idea about harnessing the region's windpower and hydropower in ways that work for both. And that idea took a step closer to reality last Friday after Washington Governor Chris Gregoire signed a bill into law allowing the idea to move forward.

The Klickitat Public Utility District (Goldendale, Washington) has proposed building a $2.5 billion, 1,200-megawatt (MW) pumped storage hydro project on the Columbia River, at the site of an abandoned aluminum plant in Goldendale, Washington. The project would use off-peak wind power to pump water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir, where it could be used to meet peak electric demand.

It's a creative solution to a regional challenge that pitted windpower against hydropower last year when runoff from an above-average snowpack filled the reservoirs managed by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) (Portland, Oregon), a federal power marketing agency. That forced BPA to generate excess electricity from its hydro generators and temporarily curtail electricity generation from the region's windpower operators. It was a difficult tradeoff, but BPA said it had no other options under federal law.

BPA operates 75% of the high-voltage transmission lines in the Northwest and manages about 20,000 MW of hydroelectric generating capacity on the Columbia River. Hydroelectric generation in the region is designated as a "must-run" generating resource, because the alternative--releasing water through a dam's spillways rather than running water through its hydro turbines--would have a negative impact on protected local fish like salmon and steelhead. For more on that issue, see May 18, 2011, article - Weather to Determine if Wind Power is Curtailed in Pacific Northwest, and May 24, 2011, article - Melting Snowpack Brings Increase in Hydroelectric Generation on Lower Snake and Columbia Rivers.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) (Washington, D.C.) subsequently ruled against BPA's decision, which took almost 100,000 megawatt-hours of wind power off of the grid last May and June, resulting in lost sales and production tax credits for wind generators. FERC ordered BPA to come up with an electric dispatch policy that did not discriminate against hydropower. For more on that ruling, see December 9, 2011, article - FERC Rules Against Wind Power Curtailment in Pacific Northwest.

Enter Klickitat PUD, a small utility with a big idea. "I think the need exists and the timing is right for this project," Randy Knowles, one of three PUD commissioners, told the Yakima Herald Republic last month. He added that the utility sees the pumped storage project as a way to more fully integrate wind power into the transmission system. An intermittent generating resource, windpower generation often peaks during periods of low electric demand. But hydroelectric generation is considered a baseload generating resource, because it is instantly available when needed--providing there is adequate water in the reservoir.

On March 30, Gregoire signed a bill that allows the pumped storage idea to move forward. The bill was passed unanimously in both houses of Washington's legislature. The project has a total investment value (TIV) of $2.5 billion. If it kicks off as scheduled in the third quarter of 2014, it will be operating by the end of 2018.

Now, Klickitat PUD must find financial backers for the project. At 1,200 MW, the proposed plant would be one of the largest power generators on the Columbia River.

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