FERC Grants 40-Year Licence for Washington’s Goldendale Hydropower Storage Facility
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has received a 40-year licence from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for its 1.2-GW Goldendale pumped storage project in Washington state. The approval clears the way for one of the largest pumped storage hydropower facilities in the Pacific Northwest.
The project is being developed by Rye Development, a partnership between EDF Power Solutions and Climate Adaptive Infrastructure, and is located at a former aluminum smelter site near Goldendale. Once operational, the facility will be able to store electricity for 12 hours and generate 1.2 GW, enough to power roughly 500,000 homes.
“This is a landmark moment for the Pacific Northwest,” said Erik Steimle, chief development officer at Rye Development. He added that the licence represents a major step toward a more reliable grid and affordable energy prices amid rising electricity demand.
The USD 2-billion (EUR 1.7-billion) project is expected to create over 3,000 construction jobs over four to five years. Construction is targeted to begin in 2027.
The facility is situated on private land within Klickitat County’s Energy Overlay Zone, designed to streamline energy development. Its upper reservoir will overlap with the Tuolumne wind farm, while the lower reservoir will occupy land previously used by the Columbia Gorge Aluminum smelter.
The Goldendale project is part of a growing push for large-scale energy storage solutions to support grid reliability, integrate renewable energy, and meet increasing power demand in the United States.
Source: renewablesnow.com
