Portland Hydropower Project Introductions New Use for Water Systems

A new pilot hydropower project is underway by Lucid Energy in cooperation with the Portland Water Bureau. It’s fitting that this project is occurring in Portland, given the importance of hydropower and innovation in our region.

Lucid Energy is a Portland start-up company focused on producing electricity from turbines in water pipes. The most appropriate setting for this approach is a gravity-fed water system, and Portland’s water supply from the Bull Run watershed fits the bill.

But it isn’t quite that simple.

Three other critical elements factor in from the water system side of things:

• The water pipe has to be big; for example, the pilot project involves four 42 inch-diameter turbines.
• The pipe has to be in a location where the drop in water pressure due to the turbine is either needed or won’t cause a problem, given the exacting hydraulics of water distribution systems.
• The pipe needs to be new or part of a planned replacement project, since it isn’t cost effective to dig up pipe just to install a turbine.

These elements were all in place for the current pilot project. A new pipe was being installed to connect the new Powell Butte Reservoir to the water system. That pipe was big enough, and located in a spot where water pressure reductions wouldn’t cause hydraulic problems. Opportunities for another pilot project in Portland, though, will likely be limited and this is not a new technology that people should expect to see in water pipe replacement projects in front of their homes.

The economics also need to pencil out from the energy side. Pilot projects are valuable and can’t be expected to be as cost effective as already established energy sources. The cost of this pilot project has been reported as $1.7 million, with an annual production of 1,100 megawatt hours (MWh). Over twenty years of operation and assuming that the $1.7 million covers all the costs, that works out to $77 per MWh or 7.7 cents per kWh, which is a decent price for renewable energy.

The pilot project costs of $1.7 million came from private investors, not the City of Portland. Possible increases in governmental infrastructure construction costs linked to pilot projects, however, should be covered either in the short run or by the assurance of energy sales in the long run. The pilot project includes a contract to sell the electricity to Portland General Electric. During the initial 20 years of the project the private investors will be paid back, though the Water Bureau will receive a portion of the revenue from electricity sales.

The Lucid Energy turbines will be turned over to the Portland Water Bureau in 20 years. At that point, the Water Bureau will become the sole recipient of proceeds from the sale of electricity.

In short, the Lucid Energy hydropower project is an interesting renewable energy pilot project, underway right here in Oregon, that illustrates possible interactions between water and electrical systems. CUB will be monitoring the pilot to see how it performs and how the costs shake out, both in the short and long term.

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