Rehabilitation and Repair

GE Renewable Energy to rehab generators at Avista’s Long Lake Powerhouse

GE Renewable Energy to rehab generators at Avista’s Long Lake Powerhouse
(Photo courtesy Avista Utilities)

GE Renewable Energy signed a service contract with Avista Utilities in the U.S. to rehabilitate and modernize four generator units at the 88 MW Long Lake hydropower plant on the Spokane River in the Pacific Northwest.

The units were installed in the late 1970s and have a 40-year design life and are due for this kind of an upgrade, the utility said. Long Lake is the largest hydroelectric facility on the Spokane River and plays a vital role in facilitating the urban, industrial, and agricultural development of eastern Washington and northern Idaho.

The project scope includes the complete renewal and supply of the stators, poles, fans and spider/rim designs. The main objective of the refurbishment is to maintain the overall plant equipment reliability for decades to come.

In addition, modernizing the units will increase the efficiency and performance and respond to the growing needs of the western energy imbalance market (EIM) to better serve Avista’s customers. When the refurbishment is complete, the facility will have an installed capacity exceeding 100 MW.

The EIM is a real-time wholesale energy trading market that enables participants anywhere in the western U.S. to buy and sell energy when needed, maintaining grid reliability and making excess renewable energy available to participating utilities at low cost rather than turning the generating units off.

The Long Lake hydroelectric facility was built in 1915 and was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The first modernized unit is scheduled to go into operation at the end of 2024 and the last one in 2029.

Avista and GE have an established partnership, with GE responsible for modernizing the generators at Little Falls, which is located downstream.

“I am delighted that Avista has renewed their confidence in GE’s Hydro Solutions,” said Pascal Radue, president and chief executive officer of GE Hydro Solutions. “This close relationship enables us to clearly understand their needs and work side by side in order to provide a customized solution and execution planning that best meets their needs.”

Avista Utilities produces, transmits and distributes energy and electricity to 403,000 customers and natural gas to 369,000 customers in a service territory that covers 30,000 square miles in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and parts of southern and eastern Oregon.

GE Renewable Energy provides end-to-end solutions to customers in onshore and offshore wind, blades, hydro, storage, utility-scale solar, and grid solutions as well as hybrid renewables and digital services offerings.