Gordon Butte Pumped Storage Project facts for kids
The Gordon Butte Pumped Storage Project is a planned facility that will store energy using water. It's located near Martinsdale, Montana. This project is a type of pumped hydroelectric storage, which means it uses water moving between two different levels to create or store electricity.
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Who is Building It?
The company in charge of this project is called Absaroka Energy. They applied for permission to build and run the facility from a group called the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in 2015. FERC is a government agency that helps make sure energy projects are safe and follow rules.
In December 2016, FERC gave Absaroka Energy a special license to operate the Gordon Butte project for 50 years. Before giving the license, they checked to make sure the project would not harm the environment.
How Gordon Butte Will Work
The Gordon Butte project will be built on a site about 177 acres (0.72 km2) in size. It will get its water from Cottonwood Creek, which flows into the Musselshell River.
A cool thing about this project is that it will work as a closed system. This means it won't constantly take water from or put water back into the river system. Instead, the same water will be used over and over again.
The facility will have a large water storage area, called a reservoir. This reservoir will hold about 4,000 acre-feet of water. It will be located about 1,000 feet (300 m) higher than the power plant below. When the project is running, it will be able to produce about 400 MW of power.
Storing and Making Energy
Pumped hydroelectric storage works like a giant battery.
- When there is extra electricity (like from wind or solar farms on a windy or sunny day), the project will use that power to pump water uphill from a lower reservoir to the higher one. This stores energy.
- When electricity is needed (like on a calm day or when the sun isn't shining), the water from the higher reservoir will be released. It will flow downhill through turbines, which are like big water wheels. This movement spins generators to create electricity.
Building the Project
Absaroka Energy had planned to start building the project in 2018 or later. Before construction could begin, they needed to finish the design work and get enough money to pay for it.
The estimated cost to build the Gordon Butte project is about $986 million. Once it's up and running, the yearly cost to operate it is expected to be around $173 million. The electricity it produces is estimated to be worth about $220 million each year.
In 2019, a large investment group from Denmark called Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners put a lot of money into the project. This investment might help the construction start in 2020.
