Power Moves: Will we ever be the same? Nope.
By Tom Peterson
Michael Rooney had an interesting fact for Wasco County Commissioners last week.
He said his company is poised to spend $2.5 billion to build a new electricity plant near the John Day Dam in Washington.
If his company can get the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permits and clear the environmental hurdles, it will create some 3,000 jobs for two years and 60 permanent jobs.
But that’s just a symptom of our changing times.
And you think finding housing is tough now in the Gorge?
Wait.
Here is a page out of Rooney’s PowerPoint.
That project alone has the power to payroll well over $500 million annually to well-skilled employees.
It might be time to get that degree in advanced manufacturing? These projects on their own could take an apprentice electrician to a journeyman.
Google, now in the throes of trying to finish an agreement with local government in The Dalles and Wasco County, is at the same time intimating two more data centers could come in The Dalles with an investment of $2 billion. That would also sustain or increase the need for skilled workers, who need to eat and have a place to sleep.
Major change for The Mid Columbia and especially The Dalles are on the horizon if data centers and power infrastructure push ahead in this era of big projects, coupled with the demand to reduce carbon and stabilize the electrical grid and ultimately save the planet.
Growth at the local level - that means wear and tear on roads, more students at schools, more need for services, groceries and fuel.
It’s a perfect storm and a chance for a lot of opportunities in all sectors of our economy.
It also has the ability to push locals out if property values continue to bolt and rent gets out of reach for those at the lower end of the pay scale.
I think The Dalles City Councilor Scott Randall had it right when he said that we have not seen construction projects of this magnitude since the building of The Dalles Dam or Interstate 84.
Closed Loop
Michael Rooney with Rye Development, LLC, out of Spokane, told Wasco County Commissioners a closed loop pumped hydro storage could be under construction as soon as 2025 on the former Goldendale Aluminum plant site.
The plant, using two 60-acre ponds, to flow water through a turbine, is capable of generating 1,200 megawatts, enough to power a million homes or 15 data centers.
Here’s how it works.
Proposed location of ponds.
The plant will utilize solar and wind power - when electricity demand on the grid is low - to pump water to its upper pond. The plant will then gravity feed the water flow downhill through the turbine to produce power when demand is high.
Think of it like a battery. The water is pumped uphill when we have too much electricity and sits in a pond - like a batter holding energy. And when energy is needed, the water flows downhill to produce energy.
Here is the timeline for the Goldendale Energy Storage project.
Rooney said the technology is tried and true and is utlized at places such as Grand Cooley Dam built in 1942.
The facility will cover a 600-acre area next to the dam.
Taxes and meeting future demand
He said the plant will generate $14 million of tax revenue annually for Klickitat County.
“We also believe that it not only serves state mandate for clean energy, but as Google comes in this project will be a critical piece to attract those projects and meet those demands for power,” he said.
Cleaning up
Rooney said the project includes $10 million in remediation of the brownfield site.
The Call for More Electricity
There is no doubt that demand for electricity is going to rise.
Washington law requires utilities to transition to a carbon-neutral electricity supply by 2030 and puts the state on a path to entirely eliminate fossil fuels from electricity generation by 2045.
California has also set goals of utilizing 100 percent clean electrical power by 2045, which eliminates coal-fired and natural gas power plants.
Oregon lawmakers are working toward the same clean energy goals, Rooney said. Translation - more solar, more wind turbines. In fact, Iberdrola is expected to put in some 50 wind turbines starting this spring just south of Wasco.
At the same time, there is also a push toward electric vehicles. Gas vehicles in California will be banned in 2035.
GM is expected to release 20 new or redesigned electric vehicles as part of its $27 billion investment plan from 2020 through 2025, according to its website.
GM is already building a $2 billion battery plant for vehicles in Ohio and is looking to onboard a second in Tennesee.
GM going electric? That’s a bellwether.
And there seems to be no limit to the need for cloud and computing services from consumers as Google in our own community is looking at adding two data centers.
So as electricity demand increases and fossil fuel-powered plants are mothballed, new sources of renewable energy are in high demand.
Rye Development and those presenting green options have traction.
More about Rye Development
Rye Development LLC touts itself as a developer of “new low impact hydro powered energy generation and energy storage in the United States” on its website.
It is currently developing a similar but smaller project also with Copenhagen, 11 miles east of Klamath Falls called the Swan Lake Project at a cost of $740 million, according to the Klamath Herald & News.
Rye currently has 22 hydroelectric projects (to be developed under the name Rye Hydro) at existing non-powered dams (NPDs) in the eastern U.S., alongside Rye Development LLC, according to a story in Hydroreveiw.com
In October 2020, Rye Development signed the Joint Statement of Collaboration on U.S. Hydropower between the U.S. hydropower industry and environmental community – an agreement led by Stanford University and the Energy Futures Initiative – outlining how the U.S. needs to address climate change by advancing both the renewable energy and storage benefits of hydropower and the environmental and economic benefits of healthy rivers, the story states.
More On Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP)
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners provides investment management services, according to the Bloomberg website. The Company invests in biomass power plants, wind farms, offshore converter stations, and renewable energy projects. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners primarily invests in Europe, North America, and East Asia.
Vestas, the worlds largest wind turbine manufacturer, recently purchased 25 percent of the company.
CIP runs seven funds, with a total of $16.7 billion under management. That portfolio represents 20 major, large-scale projects with 8 gigawatts of capacity. Another 20 greenfield projects will close finance in the next three years, according to CIP, according to John Parnell, Senior European Editor in a story in
Greentech Media
Read his story here.
CIP said part of the Vestas proceeds will be used to create a new Energy Transition Fund, which will focus on decarbonization technologies such as power-to-X, or the conversion of electricity to fuels such as hydrogen and methane or other chemical feedstocks. The fund will launch in the first half of 2021.
“In order to reach the critical point of net-zero emissions, the growth within electrification needs to be complemented by decarbonization of fuels to transportation, feedstock to industrial sectors, and production of green ammonia as fertilizer for agriculture,” Christina Grumstrup Sørensen, the CIP senior partner over asset management activities, said in a statement. “Vestas and CIP share this strategic perspective alongside a joint ambition to continue to develop CIP into the leading platform for institutional investors seeking to deploy capital directly into some of the largest and leading-edge energy projects across the world.
