Over 2 GW of pumped hydro storage could be coming to Navajo Nation lands, as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has accepted developer Daybreak Power’s application for a preliminary permit for its proposed 2,200 megawatt Navajo Energy Storage Station.
The acceptance has been described as an “important early milestone,” but it doesn’t mean that development can begin full steam ahead yet, the permit hasn’t even been issued. Once it has been issued, there is still planning and permitting to be done.
The estimated $3.6 billion project would sit on Navajo Nation lands near the south shore of Lake Powell. The location is interesting because the project would technically be located in San Juan County, Utah, but the nearest city would be Page, Arizona.
Another important point of note is that the project plans outline the use of transmission infrastructure formerly used by the now-retired Navajo Generating Station coal facility.
If built, the project would clock in at 2,230 MW, which could provide 10 hours of continuous generation, with an average annual generation of 3,365 GWh, however, as the company shared with pv magazine:
“These are ballpark figures based on the proposed installed capacity and estimates for how often we’d be generating. We expect the figures to change as we refine the project and conduct engineering/feasibility studies.”
Unlike some pumped hydro plants, which use some of the energy generated while the water is released to re-charge the pump for the next use, Navajo will use solar and wind energy to pump water to the upper reservoir.
The issue of where this energy will go and who will be buying it is an entirely different matter.
The project’s $3.6 billion price tag is another issue, one not necessarily focused on if it will get financed, but rather how. Likely, developers will look to support financing by selling the generation via a power purchase contract, though there is also the possibility that grid operators might see value in the project as a transmission asset and choose to invest in it.
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