"Combining Wärtsilä's advanced seals and bearings technology with American Hydro's leading knowledge of servicing hydroelectric and water distribution industries, we can now better support our customers in hydro upgrades and plant rehabilitation," says Lee Martindale, Business Development Director at Wärtsilä Seals & Bearings
The Grand Coulee Dam generates more than 21 billion kWh of electricity each year. The upgrade will help to achieve more efficient plant operations, provide reliable irrigation delivery and allow for adequate flexibility to continue power reserve balancing and load shaping.
The project was awarded to American Hydro in August 2016 by the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Reclamation. The Bureau of Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier and the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the United States, with operations and facilities in 17 states.
"This effort is pivotal to the infrastructure modernization at the Keys Plant. The pump units will provide greater efficiency, flexibility and capacity in hydropower production and water delivery," says Reclamation Commissioner Estevan López.
The plant has an output of 314 MW and is part of the 6,809 MW Grand Coulee Dam power complex, which also provides flood control and irrigation for the area.
John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant contains 12 pumps that lift water from the Columbia River up the hillside to a canal that flows in to Banks Lake, which provides irrigation water to over 670,000 acres in the Columbia Basin Project. Six of the pumps can be reversed to generate hydroelectricity when demand exists.
Photo: The Grand Coulee Dam is the largest hydropower project in the United States, generating more than 21 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year – equivalent of well over 2.3 million US homes. (Wärtsilä)
