WPTO Announces $4.3 Million in Technical Assistance for the Hydropower Community

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) today announced selections for $4.3 million in technical assistance projects through the HydroWIRES Initiative to aid the hydropower community in making well-informed decisions while achieving broader benefits for the electricity grid.

These 10 technical assistance projects will provide pumped storage hydropower (PSH) developers and other stakeholders with DOE national laboratory expertise and capabilities to address valuation hurdles in PSH project development and help the broader hydropower community address specific challenges related to the HydroWIRES mission.

Hydropower is one of the oldest and largest sources of renewable energy, accounting for 28.7% of total U.S. renewable electricity generation and about 6.2% of total U.S. electricity generation. Meanwhile, PSH accounted for 93% of utility-scale energy storage in the United States as of 2021.

Each of the 10 projects will receive assistance valued between $100,000 to $1 million from technical assistance teams composed of subject-matter experts from one or more of the following DOE national laboratories: Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne), Idaho National Laboratory (INL), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

The 10 projects are divided among three topic areas as follows:

Topic: Pumped Storage Hydropower Valuation Tool Baseline Analyses, Interpretation, or Market Applications

Under this topic, applicants will receive assistance with using the PSH Valuation Tool (PSHVT). The assistance can involve how to properly gather the information needed for accurate use of the tool, how to run analyses under various market scenarios, and/or interpreting valuation results in the context of financing considerations and other market applications.

Constructing a reservoir is often the single largest capital cost and most significant environmental impact for a PSH project. To help reduce costs and negative impacts associated with PSH, Auburn University will receive technical assistance from Argonne and PNNL to use the PSHVT and evaluate a range of dam, reservoir, and power system characteristics to assess the financial viability of converting small- to medium- height nonpowered dams into advanced hydropower and PSH facilities.
Geomechanical PSH is an energy storage concept being developed by Quidnet Energy, Inc. that involves pumping water between rock layers to be kept under pressure until released through a hydroelectric turbine. In this project, Quidnet will receive technical assistance from Argonne and PNNL on a comprehensive financial and environmental analysis of the Geomechanical PSH system across the United States.
Pump-back storage hydropower is a form of PSH that is operated on a stream and uses the stream’s water flow primarily for conventional hydropower generation, but can also pump a smaller portion of water for storage in a reservoir. In this project, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will receive technical assistance from Argonne and PNNL to understand the value of the DeGray and Clarence D. Cannon powerhouses, both of which were designed with pump-back operation that was never utilized. The team will quantify the benefits associated with pump-back storage capabilities to assess the value of repairs and inform the USACE and the Power Marketing Administrations on the benefits of PSH.

Topic: PSH Valuation Custom Analyses, Modeling, Interpretation, or Market Applications

Under this topic, applicants will receive assistance from the national labs with additional custom analyses, modeling, interpretation, or market applications that are beyond the scope of the PSHVT and require additional national lab capabilities.

Utilities have difficulty valuing and justifying PSH. In this project, the Tennessee Valley Authority will receive technical assistance from Argonne, NREL, and PNNL to use DOE lab tools and expertise, grid modeling, and water modeling to improve current PSH valuation practices.
Six hydropower units at the Salina PSH plant in Oklahoma are nearing the end of their useful life. The Grand River Dam Authority will receive technical assistance from Argonne and INL to evaluate batteries and modern technological upgrades, determine grid benefits and return on investment, and ultimately identify how to best position the Salina facility to meet electricity grid needs.
USACE is the largest renewable energy producer in the United States, operating 75 facilities that produce 75% of U.S. hydropower. Of these facilities, however, only five possess pump-back capability. USACE will receive technical assistance from PNNL and ORNL to assess how to convert conventional hydropower facilities to a pump-back capable storage facility.

Open Topic

Under this topic, applicants will receive assistance with other decision-making questions regarding hydropower’s role on the grid that are not addressed above and is not limited to solely PSH or the PSHVT.

Gianelli powerhouse in California was constructed in the 1960s with technology that has undergone significant wear and tear since that time. The Power & Water Resources Pooling Authority will receive technical assistance from PNNL and Argonne to determine if operating the facility as a PSH facility will improve revenues and offset the cost of modifications. The team will work together to determine the value of replacing old turbines, adding a hybrid battery, and making other upgrades to compare to the direct and indirect benefits of PSH.
Using existing coal mines to build underground PSH facilities could help reduce the costs associated with starting a new PSH operation. However, technical challenges associated with water quality and structural integrity have thus far prevented any of these facilities from going online. In this project, Rye Development will receive technical assistance from ORNL to investigate the impacts of minerals, metal particles, and chemical substances in water flow on hydraulic equipment and assess the overall structural integrity of hydraulic equipment in former coal mines.
In this project, Natel will receive technical assistance from INL and Argonne to model the economic return and viability of adding batteries to four of its hydropower plants and help characterize how power purchase agreement structures may affect the value of other hybridized hydropower facilities.
Currently, the mid-Columbia hydropower system has seven powered dams with five independent hydropower operators. There may be opportunities to coordinate operations among some of these hydropower systems. In this project, Grant County Public Utility District will receive technical assistance from NREL to develop and apply a coordinated modeling framework that quantifies the value of coordination, identifies where value accrues, and investigates how to improve market operation software.

The goal of WPTO's HydroWIRES Initiative is to understand, enable, and improve hydropower and PSH’s contributions to reliability, resilience, and integration in the rapidly evolving U.S. electricity system. Stay up to date with the latest hydropower funding opportunities, events, and news by subscribing to the monthly Water Wire and the bimonthly Hydro Headlines newsletters.