Skip to main content

PNNL

  • About
  • News & Media
  • Careers
  • Events
  • Research
    • Scientific Discovery
      • Biology
        • Chemical Biology
        • Computational Biology
        • Ecosystem Science
        • Human Health
          • Cancer Biology
          • Exposure Science & Pathogen Biology
        • Integrative Omics
          • Advanced Metabolomics
          • Chemical Biology
          • Mass Spectrometry-Based Measurement Technologies
          • Spatial and Single-Cell Proteomics
          • Structural Biology
        • Microbiome Science
          • Biofuels & Bioproducts
          • Human Microbiome
          • Soil Microbiome
          • Synthetic Biology
        • Predictive Phenomics
      • Chemistry
        • Computational Chemistry
        • Chemical Separations
        • Chemical Physics
        • Catalysis
      • Earth & Coastal Sciences
        • Global Change
        • Atmospheric Science
          • Atmospheric Aerosols
          • Human-Earth System Interactions
          • Modeling Earth Systems
        • Coastal Science
        • Ecosystem Science
        • Subsurface Science
        • Terrestrial Aquatics
      • Materials Sciences
        • Materials in Extreme Environments
        • Precision Materials by Design
        • Science of Interfaces
        • Solid Phase Processing
          • Cold Spray
          • Friction Stir Welding & Processing
          • ShAPE
      • Nuclear & Particle Physics
        • Dark Matter
        • Flavor Physics
        • Fusion Energy Science
        • Neutrino Physics
      • Quantum Information Sciences
    • Energy Resiliency
      • Electric Grid Modernization
        • Emergency Response
        • Grid Analytics
          • AGM Program
          • Tools and Capabilities
        • Grid Architecture
        • Grid Cybersecurity
        • Grid Energy Storage
        • Grid Resilience and Decarbonization
          • Earth System Modeling
          • Energy System Modeling
        • Transmission
        • Distribution
      • Energy Efficiency
        • Appliance and Equipment Standards
        • Building Energy Codes
        • Building Technologies
          • Advanced Building Controls
          • Advanced Lighting
          • Building-Grid Integration
        • Building and Grid Modeling
        • Commercial Buildings
        • Federal Buildings
          • Federal Performance Optimization
          • Resilience and Security
        • Grid Resilience and Decarbonization
        • Residential Buildings
          • Building America Solution Center
          • Energy Efficient Technology Integration
          • Home Energy Score
        • Energy Efficient Technology Integration
      • Energy Storage
        • Electrochemical Energy Storage
        • Flexible Loads and Generation
        • Grid Integration, Controls, and Architecture
        • Regulation, Policy, and Valuation
        • Science Supporting Energy Storage
        • Chemical Energy Storage
      • Environmental Management
        • Waste Processing
        • Radiation Measurement
        • Environmental Remediation
      • Fossil Energy
        • Subsurface Energy Systems
        • Carbon Management
          • Carbon Capture
          • Carbon Storage
          • Carbon Utilization
        • Advanced Hydrocarbon Conversion
      • Nuclear Energy
        • Fuel Cycle Research
        • Advanced Reactors
        • Reactor Operations
        • Reactor Licensing
      • Renewable Energy
        • Solar Energy
        • Wind Energy
          • Wind Resource Characterization
          • Wildlife and Wind
          • Community Values and Ocean Co-Use
          • Wind Systems Integration
          • Wind Data Management
          • Distributed Wind
        • Marine Energy
          • Environmental Monitoring for Marine Energy
          • Marine Biofouling and Corrosion
          • Marine Energy Resource Characterization
          • Testing for Marine Energy
          • The Blue Economy
        • Hydropower
          • Environmental Performance of Hydropower
          • Hydropower Cybersecurity and Digitalization
          • Hydropower and the Electric Grid
          • Materials Science for Hydropower
          • Pumped Storage Hydropower
          • Water + Hydropower Planning
        • Grid Integration of Renewable Energy
        • Geothermal Energy
      • Transportation
        • Bioenergy Technologies
          • Algal Biofuels
          • Aviation Biofuels
          • Waste-to-Energy and Products
        • Hydrogen & Fuel Cells
        • Vehicle Technologies
          • Emission Control
          • Energy-Efficient Mobility Systems
          • Lightweight Materials
          • Vehicle Electrification
          • Vehicle Grid Integration
    • National Security
      • Chemical & Biothreat Signatures
        • Contraband Detection
        • Pathogen Science & Detection
        • Explosives Detection
        • Threat-Agnostic Biodefense
      • Cybersecurity
        • Discovery and Insight
        • Proactive Defense
        • Trusted Systems
      • Nuclear Material Science
      • Nuclear Nonproliferation
        • Radiological & Nuclear Detection
        • Nuclear Forensics
        • Ultra-Sensitive Nuclear Measurements
        • Nuclear Explosion Monitoring
        • Global Nuclear & Radiological Security
      • Stakeholder Engagement
        • Disaster Recovery
        • Global Collaborations
        • Legislative and Regulatory Analysis
        • Technical Training
      • Systems Integration & Deployment
        • Additive Manufacturing
        • Deployed Technologies
        • Rapid Prototyping
        • Systems Engineering
      • Threat Analysis
        • Advanced Wireless Security
          • 5G Security
          • RF Signal Detection & Exploitation
        • Grid Resilience and Decarbonization
        • Internet of Things
        • Maritime Security
        • Millimeter Wave
        • Mission Risk and Resilience
    • Data Science & Computing
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Graph and Data Analytics
      • Software Engineering
      • Computational Mathematics & Statistics
      • Future Computing Technologies
        • Adaptive Autonomous Systems
      • Visual Analytics
    • Publications & Reports
    • Featured Research
  • People
    • Inventors
    • Lab Leadership
    • Lab Fellows
    • Staff Accomplishments
  • Partner with PNNL
    • Education
      • Undergraduate Students
      • Graduate Students
      • Post-graduate Students
      • University Faculty
      • University Partnerships
      • K-12 Educators and Students
      • STEM Education
        • STEM Workforce Development
        • STEM Outreach
        • Meet the Team
      • Internships
    • Community
      • Regional Impact
      • Philanthropy
      • Volunteering
    • Industry
      • Available Technologies
      • Industry
      • Industry Partnerships
      • Licensing & Technology Transfer
      • Entrepreneurial Leave
      • Visual Intellectual Property Search (VIPS)
  • Facilities & Centers
    • All Facilities
      • Atmospheric Radiation Measurement User Facility
      • Electricity Infrastructure Operations Center
      • Energy Sciences Center
      • Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory
      • Grid Storage Launchpad
      • Institute for Integrated Catalysis
      • Interdiction Technology and Integration Laboratory
      • PNNL Portland Research Center
      • PNNL Seattle Research Center
      • PNNL-Sequim (Marine and Coastal Research)
      • Radiochemical Processing Laboratory
      • Shallow Underground Laboratory

Alternative Opportunities for Hydropower

  • Injection Well Hydropower
  • Irrigation Modernization
  • Outage Estimator
    • Energy Resilience

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Projects
  3. Alternative Opportunities for Hydropower

Injection Well Hydropower Projects

Development and Permitting Considerations

Development        

Illustration showing how a hydropower infection well works.
Anatomy of an injection well hydropower system. (Illustration by Michael Perkins | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

Before adding hydropower to an injection well, a feasibility study can be conducted to determine equipment requirements, identify potential barriers or fatal flaws, and evaluate the financial viability of a potential project. Costs and benefits will vary for each site based on local conditions: the type of injection well, head and flow rates, equipment choices, installation and labor costs, electrical grid access, and availability of financial incentives.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) 

Most hydropower projects require permitting from FERC; however, many injection well projects may be eligible for the fastest, least complex permit, known as a Qualifying Conduit Hydropower Facility, which is categorically exempt from the National Environmental Policy Act.

Local Permits      

State, county, or municipal land use, construction and electrical codes may require additional permits issued by a local government before construction or operation.

Interconnection   

A three-phase connection to the utility grid will be required and all renewable energy projects that connect to the electric grid must work through an interconnection process with the local utility. Potential sites not already connected to the electrical grid may face a barrier in the cost of a line extension to connect to the local utility. Line extensions of more than a quarter mile may be financially challenging, though sites with more hydropower potential may be able to cost-effectively support longer distances than sites with less hydropower potential.

Power Sales

Projects often have two options to sell or get credit for the power they generate: Net Metering or power sales as a Qualifying Facility, though other options may be available in some areas.

  • Net metering, where offered, is a billing arrangement where a renewable energy system offsets the electricity consumption at a site, often on a monthly or annual basis. Typically, the utility credits the system owner for any excess energy produced, which is sent back to the grid and can be used to offset future electricity bills.
  • Energy can also be sold to the utility at “avoided cost” rates through a Qualifying Facility (QF) designation under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA). Selling power as a QF requires a more complex contractual relationship with the utility, including the potential for penalties if contractual obligations are not met.

Operations 

Adding hydropower to an injection well may add operations and maintenance costs like those experienced for operating and maintaining a pump. For sites where pumping already occurs, additional run time on the pump and/or variable frequency drive need to be considered from the perspective of operations, maintenance, total system life, and replacement or decommissioning.

Financial Incentives      

Federal, state, local, and/or utility incentives, grants, tax credits, or loans may be available to reduce project installation costs or support projects moving through study and development processes and into construction. The specific offers and requirements often change over time. Up-to-date information can typically be found online at the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency.

Learn about how to generate hydropower from injection wells in the pocket guide.

Research topics

Hydropower
Water + Hydropower Planning
Hydropower and the Electric Grid

PNNL

  • Get in Touch
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Doing Business
    • Environmental Reports
    • Security & Privacy
    • Vulnerability Disclosure Policy
  • Research
    • Scientific Discovery
    • Energy Resiliency
    • National Security
Subscribe to PNNL News
Department of Energy Logo Battelle Logo
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is managed and operated by Battelle for the Department of Energy
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • X (formerly Twitter)
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn