Voith Hydro has received the first of several contracts to design, manufacture, and install 720 MW of ternary pumped storage equipment for the Cat Creek Energy and Water (CCEW) Project planned near Mountain Home, Idaho on the South Fork of the Boise River.
The overall project, which includes wind and solar generation parks, the pumped storage plant, the associated electrical transmission facilities and structures, and a very large upper reservoir, will provide more than USD 1bn in U.S. manufacturing and construction jobs over the next six years and will offset more than 2.7 million metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. The CCEW project also addresses many key national and regional issues including the transition to providing firm, resilient and reliable renewable energy; the mitigation of long-term effects of climate change; and the securing of a significant portion of the future water storage needs in the Boise River Basin.
When completed, the CCEW Project will be capable of generating 1100 MW of clean, renewable energy, including 720 MW of hydropower from the ternary pumped storage hydropower equipment provided by Voith. The upper reservoir will store enough water to support more than 40% of the projected water supply needs of the Boise River Basin. This stored water volume will provide five complete days of full generation capacity (720 MW) from the pumped storage facility, creating one of the most significant Large Volume, Long Duration (LVLD) energy storage facilities in the West. The energy to power the pumps will come from on-site wind turbine and photovoltaic solar panel arrays as well as other variable renewable energy resources around the region.
