Energy Storage
Battery
Several utilities have developed small battery storage projects at pilot scale, the total of these projects adding up to only a few megawatts. In addition, there is one battery + solar project operating – the 4 megawatts Horn Rapids Solar and Storage Training Project in Richland, Washington. This site, developed by Energy Northwest, is intended to operate as a training facility for solar and battery technicians.
Pumped Storage
John W. Keys III, located at the Grand Coulee Dam, is the only operating pumped storage project in the Pacific Northwest. Water is pumped from Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake, 280 feet uphill, to the manmade Banks Lake. The main purpose of the project is to provide irrigation to the Columbia Basin Project, however six of the twelve pumps installed at the project are able to provide electricity generation in times of peak demand. The total installed capacity is just over 300 megawatts.