Pumped storage plants exhibit the same characteristic features as a conventional hydroelectric plant, but the difference lies in the operation of the plant. Water is pumped from a lower reservoir to a higher reservoir when low-cost pumping energy is available … It is released during periods of high power demand and displaces the use of inefficient, costly alternative sources of generation. The difference between the power values can be very large and, as a result, the process can show a profit.”
The NW’s transmission system and especially BPA’s hasn’t substantially changed in 20 years. New wind power generation projects are having a difficult time obtaining transmission access because of congested transmission paths from East to West. Most of the new wind projects are on the East side of the Cascades near the Columbia River and relatively near the Black Rock Project.
The Black Rock Project could help extend the life of certain congested transmission paths by acting as a strategic, centrally located dispatchable “load” when there is too much generation East of the Cascades trying to go to the West side. Installing P-G facilities in the Black Rock Project would add dynamic control benefits to the transmission system -- much like a shock absorber does for an automobile.
The Project could store excess wind power for economic reasons as well as transmission system benefits when wind storms arrive during low market price periods. These low market price periods tend to be when the Columbia River hydroelectric generators are at full capacity during the Spring Runoff and transmission East to West is congested. Once stored, this low value wind power could be released from storage during high market price periods in late summer when transmission is likely to be more available.
As a P-G project, it could also add critical new capacity to the Northwest during extreme peak load conditions in the same manner that Grand Coulee’s P/G system presently does.
In summary, the Black Rock Storage Project’s ability to generate power benefits needs a second look as a solution to many of the Northwest’s looming power system problems. It would be especially useful as a means to integrate the new wind power potential near it in Eastern Washington into the Northwest’s power grid, and the same time protect the grid’s reliability.
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