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The San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) and the City of San Diego took a step toward the possibility of helping the region meet its future energy needs through a new pumped storage opportunity at the San Vicente Reservoir site.
The potential project would create a new, up to 500-megawatt source of renewable energy that could provide electric grid stability to the region during peak times for energy use or other days when demand for electricity is high and renewable energy supplies are scarce.
“When we filled San Vicente Reservoir last summer, we filled it with more than just water – we filled it with huge potential for energy benefits,” said Mark Muir, chair of the SDCWA Board of Directors. “Given this new potential for energy from a recently expanded water resource, it’s only prudent to continue to research the potential benefits to our region’s ratepayers.”
The project would consist of an interconnection and pumping system between the existing San Vicente Reservoir and a new, smaller reservoir located uphill. The pumping system would be used during off-peak energy-use periods to pump water from the existing San Vicente Reservoir to the new upper reservoir. This pumping would create a bank of stored hydroelectric energy in the upper reservoir that would be released to the lower reservoir by gravity at times when other renewable energy supplies, such as solar, are unavailable and when energy demand and electricity costs are higher.
In addition to the existing San Vicente Dam and reservoir, the potential project would make use of the nearby 500-kilovolt Sunrise Powerlink transmission line and the 230-kilovolt Sycamore substation, both of which are primarily owned by San Diego Gas & Electric.
Proposals in response to the Request for Letters of Interest are due to SDCWA by 2 p.m. on Feb. 15, and questions regarding the request must be emailed to Jennifer Graffam at [email protected] no later than 2 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2017.
