Water is released from a higher reservoir to generate power when electricity is most in demand and expensive. Unaweep Canyon is a geologic wonder, with creeks that drain the canyon in two directions. Heres what Xcel Energys Public Service Co. is proposing: Colorado lawmakers last year unanimously approved House Bill 1052, legislation sponsored by Larimer County Republicans, that removed restrictions on pumped hydroelectric facilities as a renewable energy source. Mount Elbert Pumped Storage Plant, Colorado - clui.org Paul Ashcraft's home, at right, and James Farkas's home, at left, inside Unaweep Canyon. What would you do if this was your home? The upper reservoir is created by a concrete-faced, rock-filled dam with a structural height of 210 feet, and a total length, including the spillways, of 1,458 feet. Is there something youd like to add or correct? Our editorial policy and donor list can be viewed atwateredco.org. Work continues on geological assessments and other elements, but he says that a lot of other pieces need to come together before there is real progress.. Will Colorados Baca County get its wishes. The company last year laid out the preliminary plans with Fremont County planners and hosted a meeting in Canon City to which environmental groups and others were invited. Phantom Canyon, as Ortus calls its project in Fremont County, would require 17,000 acre-feet of water for the initial fill of the two reservoirs to be augmented by about 1,500 acre-feet annually due to losses from evaporation. The rural Colorado piece is important, she said. I dont know at this juncture whether this will be viable project and I dont think it will take an enormous amount of money to figure it out., In August, Paul Ashcraft pointed out the window of a Cessna 210 as it soared over Unaweep Canyon. Ortus Climate Mitigation wants to build a 500-megawatt pumped water storage facility on the South Slope of Pikes Peak above the town of Penrose in Fremont County. Two proposed pumped water storage projects that could expand Colorados ability to store renewable energy one in Fremont County and another between Hayden and Craig in the Yampa River Valley are moving forward. The IRAs investment tax credit is a first for pumped-storage, says Shapiro. The projects capacity would be 800 megawatts of electricity, with an average annual energy production of 2,780 gigawatt hours. Xcel plans another 125 megawatts in coming years. The company has exclusive purchase options for 4,900 acres. The proposed Salt Trail Canyon and Little Colorado River projects would have used a technique called pumped hydro. Lithium-ion batteries are part of the answer of how to provide reliability. Xcel Gives Up Plan to Expand Hydropower in Colorado One option is to place solar panels over the reservoirs, producing energy while shading the water. Xcels Cabin Creek opened in 1967 and drops water 1,500 vertical feet above Georgetown to generate up to 324 megawatts of electricity. Xcel Energy (93), Allen Best is a Colorado-based journalist who publishes an e-magazine called Big Pivots. Enter pumped storage hydropowerthe best-established and most economical form of utility-scale energy storage available today. What about emergency vehicles stuck in construction traffic on the stretch of Colorado 141 where cell phones dont work? Opened in 1967 (with slightly smaller capacity), it consists of two reservoirs, the higher one at 10,018 feet above Georgetown and then a lower reservoir. Xcel Energy wants to build a pumped-storage hydropower project in the canyon. Pumped storage units utilize less expensive energy produced at low demand and then dispatch the stored energy during peak demand. Can pumped-hydro help Colorado utilities integrate more renewables The good news is solutions are already availablechief among them PSH.. This is the start of a very long process, McCloud said. The Water Desk launched in April 2019 with support from the Walton Family Foundation. microgrids (9) By then, FERC had issued a preliminary permit which is the start of the permitting process. Creating Xcels renewable energy battery in Unaweep Canyon could put part of the rare two-mouthed canyon underwater, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), How gun violence in Colorado hit a 40-year high, a plan proposed by Xcel Energy to build a hydro power plant, 2013 beat back state approval of a transmission line, ordering closure of three coal-fired power plants, close its coal-burning Comanche 3 power plant, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. These pumped-storage projects are anathema to the modern way of thinking, says Peter Gish, a principal in Ortus Climate Mitigation, the developer of the Fremont County pumped water storage project. How is the company going to get the right of way for transmission towers along a route designated by the state department of transportation as one of 13 Scenic and Historic Byways in the state? The Cabin Creek Project is operated as a daily peaking and emergency reserve facility. But VanWinkle sees this as yet another trampling of the Western Slope by Front Range interests. HYDROVISION International was last held in Denver in 2017, and were returning for 2022. Lake Powell (9) Commissioner Eric Blank, the chairman of the public utilities commission, said supporting Xcels investigation of possible renewable energy projects creates misaligned incentives but suggested that the commission could allow up to $5 million in ratepayers support for preliminary planning of renewable energy plans. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation operates the states second pumped-storage hydropower plant. Drop us a note at tips@coloradosun.com. Ortus Climate Mitigation wants to build a 500-megawatt pumped water storage facility on the South Slope of Pikes Peak above the town of Penrose in Fremont County. 2023 Clarion Events North America. Tempers are raw in Unaweep Canyon, but they are not erupting. The Colorado Sun jason@coloradosun.com Its expensive, but power providers see PSH projects providing clean electricity for centuries, said Linda Ciocci, the executive director of the Hydropower Foundation. There are 43 pumped-storage hydro power plants in the U.S. capable of producing 22 gigawatts or 22,000 megawatts of electricity, according to the latest hydropower report from Department of Energy. Duane Highley (9) Historically, it was used in the United States to meet fluctuating power demands in conjunction with nuclear power plants. The capital investment up front is quite high, but when you run the financial models over 30, 50 or 60 years, this technology is, hands down, the cheapest technology on the market for [energy] storage.. The company has exclusive purchase options for 4,900 acres. Provision of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 make the financing of these and other pumped-storage projects more attractive. We will need to determine the suitability of the site, with consideration of geology, cost, environmental impacts, nearby land use and other engineering criteria, she said in an emailed statement. A 19-mile pipeline with five booster stations would fill the reservoirs from a new well field next to the Gunnison River near the village of Whitewater. He and the executives used the words conceptual and preliminary dozens of times. Pumped storage hydro plants store energy and generate power by shifting water between two reservoirs at different elevations. And if that process eventually leads to a licensed project, construction would take another four years. Sierra Club (13) The preliminary permit does not authorize Xcel to disturb any ground. The water is released from the higher reservoir as needed to meet Xcels mid-day peak demands, then pumped uphill when energy is cheap and relatively plentiful. These are the details that will be determined in those years of review and study, the executives said, apologizing for saying preliminary and conceptual so many times. Am I concerned? There cant be too much or too little space between the impoundments. A 360-foot long, 90-foot wide, 150-foot tall underground cavern a powerhouse would house three pump turbines, which would generate electricity 10 hours a day, 365 days a year. A water storage tank sits atop taxi driver Aurelio Hernndez's home in Tijuana, Mexico, Friday, May 12, 2023. In the Craig-Hayden area, Matthew Shapiro, chief executive of rPlus Hydro, had been examining sites that are on private land. Pumped storage technology is considered one of the most viable solutions for renewable energy storage needs. It will be a challenge for them, McInnis said, but theyve got muscle and theyve got money.. In fact, in April 2021, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed HB21-1052, Define Hydroelectricity as Renewable Energy, concerning the inclusion of some pumped hydroelectric energy generation in the definition of "eligible energy resources" for purposes of meeting Colorado's renewable energy standard (RES). The "pumped storage" facility would pump water more than 1,500 feet uphill during the day, when electricity is plentiful and boosted by solar power, and would generate power at night by letting. It is easy to fly into from most locations in the U.S. and Canada and even offers direct flights to many international destinations. In addition to power producers, several groups related to hydropower and dams are based in Colorado, such as the Hydropower Foundation, National Renewable Energy Laboratory and U.S. Society on Dams. Ortus Colorado is developing a next generation, low-impact pumped storage hydropower project on private land in Fremont County, CO. WEco is funded by multiple donors. Earth's tilt has changed by 31.5 inches (80 centimeters) between 1993 and 2010 because of the amount of groundwater humans have pumped from the planet's interior. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun / EcoFlight), How gun violence in Colorado hit a 40-year high, Tuesday accepted Xcel Energys application for a preliminary permit, a possible site for the hydropower project, big part of Xcels mission to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. climate change (55) That technology has 100-hour capacity. Meet us in Charlotte, N.C., for HYDROVISION International 2023, First phase inaugurated of hybrid solar and hydropower development in China, EDF Group opens floating solar power plant on Lazer hydropower plant reservoir, Eco Wave Power signs deal to deliver wave energy to Taiwan. Solar and wind power are highly variable and cannot be turned off and on, like coal and natural gas plants are. As Colorados largest utility, with 1.5 million electricity customers, pushes toward its goal of delivering 100% carbon-free power by 2050, the company is seeking federal approval for the states largest hydropower project on the Western Slope in Unaweep Canyon south of Grand Junction. A few months ago, Ashcraft and several of his neighbors at the highest point in Unaweep Canyon saw a plan proposed by Xcel Energy to build a hydro power plant that will help the company reach its renewable energy goals. This is far from the only bite of the apple you are going to get, said McCloud, who hoped to keep tempers dampened this early in the process. Platte River Power Authority (19) In January, rPlus Hydro, filed for a license application with FERC for the project on Seminoe Reservoir. These pumped-storage projects are anathema to the modern way of thinking, says Peter Gish, a principal in Ortus Climate Mitigation, the developer of the Fremont County pumped water storage project. energy transition (21) Tijuana, reliant on the Colorado River, faces a water crisis Farkas has scientific questions about the size of the project. One significant hurdle standing between the United States and its goal of 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035 and a net-zero energy economy by 2050 is a lack of clean energy storage, reads a November 2021 U.S. Department of Energy announcement of a new web-based tool to help power providers assess pumped-storage hydropower. Its a pretty fascinating area of growth and reinvestment and interest right now.. No. Colorado River (29) Read more Project 3 Big Canyon Pumped Storage Project STATUS: Pending (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun / EcoFlight) Xcel Energy has killed its plan to build a hydropower project in Unaweep Canyon. A mess of metates Native American grinding stones are over in the dense pinion. Hes cleared all the beetle-kill trees away from his home in case of fire. One man who owns a gravel mine along the route where Xcel hopes to pipe water and install transmission lines promised he would not approve any easement granting access to his mine land and wondered if his mining permit rights might trump a utilitys eminent domain. The projects major features include an upper and lower dam and reservoir, a power tunnel, two penstocks, a powerhouse, two step-up transformers, and access roads. Ortus Climate Mitigation wants to build a 500-megawatt pumped water storage facility on the South Slope of Pikes Peak above the town of Penrose in Fremont County. McCloud brought Xcel executives from company headquarters in Minneapolis and Denver to the meeting. Its a pretty big deal, Shapiro said. building electrification (11) Unlikean unsuccessful attempt by Xcelin 2021 to build a pumped water storage project in Unaweep Canyon on federal land in Western Colorado, the Ortus project near Pikes Peak would involve only private land. Farmers weigh tough choices as uncertain water future looms.

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