Can Lake Roosevelt and Banks Lake make new contributions to a carbon free future?

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Published: Monday, 21 October 2019 19:02

At the Lake Roosevelt Forum Conference, Tim Culbertson will present a hydroelectric pumped storage project being developed by Columbia Basin Hydropower (CBHP). Currently, CBHP manages hydropower generation projects owned by three Irrigation Districts in central Washington. Register Now.

This project may play a role in achieving zero-carbon electricity generation by 2045, a goal set forth in legislation passed by Washington State last spring . If achieved, fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas would no longer be used to generate electricity. California, Nevada and New Mexico passed similar legislation.

Called the Banks Lake Pumped Storage Project, CBHP would use water from Banks Lake and Lake Roosevelt to support a gravity feed system to power three 167 megawatt generating units. Currently, Banks Lake and Lake Roosevelt already operate to support 314 megawatts of pumped storage capacity at the Bureau of Reclamation’s John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant.

For proponents of pumped storage, advantages go beyond replacing fossil fuel generation with a renewable energy source. Pumped storage can smooth out demands for electricity when wind or solar plants are idle because the wind isn’t blowing, or the sun isn’t shining. To avoid brown-outs or price spikes, the need is highest when electricity is in most demand. For instance, in the morning when people are getting ready for school or work, or during extreme weather events, e.g.—cold snaps and heat waves.

Bringing a project like this to fruition, however, is a complex task. In addition to the cost to build it, CBHP needs to prove that the project won’t affect current generation and irrigation operations. Further, there are high environmental and regulatory standards that need to be satisfied.

This session will also feature presentations from the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. They’ll take a broader look at the tools and generation sources being considered to achieve a carbon-free generation goal.

“The choices being made have broad and deep consequences,” said Forum Executive Director Andy Dunau. “Whether you’re motivated by maximizing the river system’s eco-system function or retaining affordable, reliable and secure power 24/7, there needs to be a meeting of the minds. Whether it’s irony or destiny, our communities again find themselves at the possible center of choices that may cascade down through history.”