Lower Granite Power Plant

Lower Granite Power Plant
	location
Coordinates	46 ° 39 '38 " N , 117 ° 25' 41" W Coordinates: 46 ° 39 '38 " N , 117 ° 25' 41" W
country	United States
place	Garfield County , Washington
Waters	Snake River
	f1
	power plant
operator	USACE
construction time	1965 to 1984
Start of operation	1975
	technology
Bottleneck performance	810 megawatts
Expansion flow	3,681 m³ / s
Standard work capacity	3,170 million kWh / year
Turbines	Kaplan turbines; 6 × 135 MW
Generators	6 × 142 MVA
	Others

The Lower Granite Power Plant ( English Lower Granite Lock and Dam ) is a run-of-river power plant in Washington State , USA . It is the 15th facility in the chain of a total of 18 dams and hydroelectric power stations on the Snake River , a left tributary of the Columbia River . The Snake River forms the border between Garfield and Whitman Counties at this point .

Construction work began in July 1965. The power plant went into operation in 1975. It was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and is also operated by the USACE. The basis for the construction of the power station was the River and Harbor Act of 1945.

Barrier structure

The barrier structure is a concrete gravity dam on the left side of the river, approximately 30 m (100 ft ) high , with an earth embankment dam on the right. The machine house is on the far left, followed by a weir system with eight weir fields and a lock in the middle of the river. The dam crest is 230 m (756 ft) above sea level . The total length (including the earthfill dam) is 975 m (3,200 ft); 200 m (656 ft) of this is accounted for by the machine house and 156 m (512 ft) by the weir system. A maximum of 24,000 m³ / s (850,000 ft³ / s) can be discharged through the weir system.

Reservoir

At the normal storage target of 225 m (738 ft), the Lower Granite reservoir extends over an area of around 36 km² (8,900 acres ) and a length of around 63 km (39 miles ). At this dam target it holds 597 million m³ (483,800 acre-feet ) of water. The minimum congestion destination is 223 m (733 ft), the maximum is 227.5 m (746.5 ft).

power plant

The Lower Granite power plant has an installed capacity of 810 MW . The maximum possible output ( overload capacity ) is given as 932 MW, which, however, can only be generated for a few hours. In 2011, 3.17 billion kWh were generated.

The first three machines were put into operation in 1975. Another three machines were installed by 1979. The six Kaplan turbines each produce a maximum of 135 MW and the associated generators 142 MVA . The nominal speed of the turbines is 90 / min. The maximum flow is a total of 3,681 m³ / s (130,000 ft³ / s).

The electrical energy obtained is marketed by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). The BPA uses the four lowest power plants on the Snake River as peak load power plants , in particular to compensate for the fluctuating electricity generation from wind farms.

lock

In the middle of the dam is a lock with a length of 205 m (674 ft) and a width of 26 m (86 ft).

Others

There is a fish ladder .

Web links

Commons : Kraftwerk Lower Granite - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Lower Granite Lock and Dam. USACE , accessed April 6, 2016 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Lower Granite Dam and Lake. USACE, accessed April 6, 2016 .
↑ ^a ^b Power benefits of the lower Snake River dams. (PDF 584 kB) Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), January 2009, accessed on April 6, 2016 (English).

[us-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Lower Granite Lock and Dam. USACE , accessed April 6, 2016 .

[us2-2] Lower Granite Dam and Lake. USACE, accessed April 6, 2016 .

[bpa-3] Power benefits of the lower Snake River dams. (PDF 584 kB) Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), January 2009, accessed on April 6, 2016 (English).