PNNL

Abstract

This project will evaluate the benefits of greater coordination between Middle Columbia (Mid-C) hydropower (hydro) facility owners and operators, with and without the proposed Banks Lake Pump-Hydro (BLPH) Project. The project objectives will be achieved through three distinct areas of focus: data collection under three (3) “hydro year” (October through September) conditions, modeling and analysis of operations in the identified hydro years, and modeling and analysis of operations during simulated extreme weather events. The anticipated outcomes of this project are a quantification of benefits possible from returning Mid-C facilities to coordinated operations; the identification of possible methods for allocating the benefits of coordination to the Mid-C facilities, including using software solutions like Avista Decision Support System (ADSS); and an assessment of how similar outcomes might be possible when coordination is applied more broadly to the Pacific Northwest and other regions of the country.