FERC denies permit for 1,000 MW pumped storage project in Kentucky
FERC said that during the three year time span that Maysville Pumped Storage held the intitial permit, the company didn’t file a Notice of Intent or Pre-Application Document to start the prefiling consultation or study development necessary to prepare a license application.
The company proposed two alternatives that differ in size, with one proposing an upper reservoir with a storage capacity of 9,970-acre feet and surface area of 126 acres alongside a lower-reservoir created within an excavated underground mine space with a storage capacity of 9,540 acre-feet and surface area of 212 acres. The second alternative calls for an upper reservoir with a surface area of 138 acres and storage capacity of 11,900 acre-feet and a lower reservoir also made within an excavated underground mine space. The lower reservoir would have a surface area of 266 acres and a storage capacity of 12,000 acre-feet.
Both proposals call for an intake structure on the Ohio River, a pipeline to supply water to the upper reservoirs; a roller-compacted concrete upper dam and a powerhouse/pumping station that contains four pump/generating units with a combined capacity of 1,000 MW.
The first alternative requires a a 6-mile-long, 345-kV transmission line; the second a 2.5-mile-long, 345-KV transmission line.
