Rivertec Partners LLC applied April 13 to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a preliminary permit for the proposed Steelhead Hydroelectric Project in Umatilla County, Oregon, next to a major existing hydroelectric facility.
This application is made in order that the applicant may secure and maintain priority of application for three years for a license for the project under Part I of the Federal Power Act while obtaining the data and performing the acts required to determine the feasibility of the project and to support an application for a license.
The existing dam and reservoir is McNary Day dam and Lake Wallula, which are owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The powerhouse has fourteen 70,000-kilowatt hydroelectric generator units – a 980-MW total powerhouse capacity.
No new dams, spillways or penstocks are proposed for this new project. Modifications and renovations will be performed at the juvenile fish bypass facility. The general configuration of the proposed structures is as follows:
- One turbine-generator of approximately 4 MW capacity, likely a horizontal Kaplan turbine;
- One step-up transformer;
- Either a 200 yard interconnection to transmission features at the McNary powerhouse or an approximate 1,300 yard transmission line to the McNary substation;
- A bypass conduit around the proposed new generation; and
- appurtenant facilities.
The proposed project lies entirely within the boundaries of the USACE at McNary Dam. If the project is able to connect to the transmission connections at McNary Dam then less than one acre of land will be required.
The project will develop, conserve and use, in the public interest, the water resources of the Columbia River in the Umatilla County region by utilizing water flows at the juvenile fish bypass dewatering facility at McNary Dam that otherwise would flow back into the Columbia River without generation of any power.
A project contact is: Brieanna Dain, Rivertec Partners LLC, 521 Thorn St #331, Sewickley, PA 15143, Ph. 480 435 0846, bdain@bkmcapital.com.
