White Pine is a planned 1,000MW (1GW) closed loop pumped storage hydro project in Nevada, US. The project will be developed by rPlus Hydro, a subsidiary of renewable energy development company rPlus Energies.
rPlus submitted a draft licence application for the project to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in February 2022, followed by filing the final licence application in February 2023.
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After the application is accepted for filing, FERC will review the project formally, and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) will be conducted.
As per the Final Licence Application, the construction of the project is expected to commence in April 2025 and commercial operations may begin in 2031.
The pumped storage project would entail an investment of more than $2.5bn. It would also create up to 500 construction jobs.
White Pine Pumped Storage Project Location
The White Pine Pumped Storage Hydro Project will be located in White Pine County, approximately 8 miles northeast of Ely City in Nevada.
The project will be located largely on public land administered by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
Of the two reservoirs, one will be in the Duck Creek Range and the other in the Steptoe Valley near Highway 93.
Climate in the project area is semi-arid cold desert type with daily and seasonal fluctuations in temperature.
The project will be accessible via US Highway 93 running north-south along the eastern side of the Steptoe Valley.
White Pine Project Infrastructure
The White Pine Pumped Storage Hydro Project will consist of an upper reservoir, a lower reservoir, inlet/outlet structures, water supply and conveyance, and underground waterways.
The proposed lower reservoir will be located at an elevation of 6,500ft in the Steptoe Valley, a broad, elongated valley between the Schell Creek-Duck Creek Ranges and the Egan-Cherry Creek Ranges.
On the other hand, the upper reservoir will be in the Duck Creek Mountain Range at an elevation of 8,500ft.
Upper reservoir would have a lined rockfill structure, while the lower one will be made using material recovered from the excavation to form a compacted earthfill embankment dam.
The two reservoirs would have 4,082-acre feet of active storage capacity.
White Pine Pumped Storage Hydro Project infrastructure will also include powerhouse and transformer caverns, transmission lines, access roads and cable tunnels among others.
An ungated vertical bell mouth-type inlet/outlet structure will be located at the lower end of the upper reservoir. It will feature a 65-ft-deep conical transition to provide efficient hydraulic flow into the 20-ft-diameter vertical headrace shaft.
The lower reservoir will have a horizontal fan-shaped diffuser-type inlet/outlet structure. It will extend more than 100ft from the tailrace tunnel.
The underground waterways, which would connect the two reservoirs, will include a headrace shaft, a tunnel, a manifold, penstocks, draft tubes, and a tailrace tunnel.
A new underground powerhouse cavern will be built for the project. It will accommodate generating and pumping mechanical equipment along with ancillary infrastructure.
The powerhouse will have three 333-MW Francis-type pump turbines; and three 350 megavolt ampere (MVA) and 18kV variable speed generator motors connected to each pump turbine.
Each pump-turbine can generate around 2,143 cubic feet per second (cfs) flow at full generating power and 1,593 cfs at full pumping power.
The three-unit main-generator step-up (GSU) transformers will be housed in underground transformer cavern.
The powerhouse will be fitted with many electrical balance-of plant systems including 18kV power equipment.
A 345kV switchyard will be located close to the cable tunnel portal in order to shorten the underground transmission cable route.
Operations
The White Pine Pumped Storage Hydro Project will have a power generating capacity of 1,000 MW with a total energy storage capacity of 8,000MWh. The power generation capacity represents about 1/8th of Nevada’s peak power demand.
The project will have a projected total annual gross energy production of approximately 2,400GWh, assuming 8 hours of operations per day, six days per week for 50 weeks per year.
When power demand is low, water is pumped from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir by procuring power from the grid.
At times of peak power demand, the project will generate electricity by releasing the stored water from the upper reservoir to the lower reservoir and pump-turbine generators.
Power Transmission
The underground transmission lines will include nine high-voltage 345kV generator motor conductor cables, three medium-voltage underground power cables, and one underground fibre-optic cable.
These cables will connect the transformers to the outdoor switchyard. At the switchyard, the cables will be combined into a single 345kV transmission line connecting the outdoor switchyard and the Robinson Summit 345/525-kV Substation south of the Lincoln Highway.
The interconnection 345-kV transmission line will be 25-mile long. It will be located predominantly on lands managed by the BLM.
Contractors Involved
Mott MacDonald was appointed as the owner’s engineer for the White Pine Pumped Storage Hydro Project.
As the owner’s engineer, Mott MacDonald will conduct a feasibility study. The company is also supporting rPlus in securing a licence from FERC for the development of the project.
Other key project partners include HDR, GEI Consultants and Basin Engineering among others.
