HomeMy WebLinkAboutBradley Lake Hydropower annual energy increase possibility 02.26.2010Bradley Lake Hydropower annual energy increase possibility
A possible water significant water source for Bradley Lake Hydroelectric project is located two miles to
the West of the Project. The middle branch of Battle Creek emerges from a glacier two miles west and
1000’ higher than the lake (Figure 1). The smaller east branch is already diverted into the lake. Battle
Creek was gaged at tidewater and at elevation 780’ in 1991 — 1993 (Attached). The annual flows
indicate 50,000 ac-ft water at 780’and 87,000 ac-ft of water at tidewater.
Lower Battle Creek does have salmon. Since tidewater measures down to 10 cfs during winter the
environmental flow required would be expected to be low. Feasibility/permitting could provide more
information on environmental flows. The contribution of the West branch of Battle Creek to the
tidewater amounts may cover most required environmental flow. There is very little difference in
drainage area between elevation 780’ and 2000’. Assuming that the measured 780’ flows flow can be
diverted to Bradley Lake then Bradley would have an increase of approximately 50,000 MWhrs. One ac-
ft of water at Bradley is nearly equal to 1 MWhr.
A short road of 1.5 miles could be built from the existing Bradley road to the tunnel exit at 1650’.
Tunnel (~9000’) would be constructed and would be used for initial access to the 2000’ level to build the
small diversion dam. A small rock gabion dam could be built to divert the water. Once built the road
access would no longer be needed to the upper elevation and water would flow down the tunnel to
Bradley Lake. Other possible less expensive routes may be present.
Diversion site appears to be on State DNR land. Since the river has salmon downstream the diversion
would likely required an amendment to the existing Bradley license.
A rough cost estimate:
Permitting & design (guess) $2,500,000
Road (1.5 miles est.) $3,000,000
Tunnel blasting ($2000/ft) $18,000,000
Dam $500,000
Estimate $24,000,000
Contingency (25%) $6,000,000
Total Estimate $30,000,000
There are other options to divert flow than a long tunnel. Other routes would likely have shorter tunnel
sections and lower costs to construct. Amount of required environmental flows will determine amount
of energy gained at Bradley. Stream flow at the 2000’ elevation would need to be gaged, permitting
reviewed, and a new cost estimate prepared.
USGS Surface Water data for Alaska: USGS Surface-Water Monthly Statistics Page | of 2
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USGS Surface-Water Monthly Statistics for
Alaska
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and may not match those published by the USGS in official publications. The user
is responsible for assessment and use of statistics from this site. For more details
on why the statistics may not match, click here.
USGS 15238982 BATTLE C BL GLACIER NR HOMER AK
Available data for this site Time-series: Monthly statistics | GO |
Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska
Hydrologic Unit Code 19020301
Latitude 59°44'19", Longitude 150°53'49" NAD27|
Drainage area 11.8 square miles
Gage datum 780 feet above sea level NGVD29
Output formats
00060, Discharge, cubic feet per second,
Monthly mean in cfs (Calculation Period: 1991-10-01 -> 1993-09-30)
Jan || Feb | Mar} Apr ||May} Jun || Jul | Aug | Sep || Oct | Nov|| Dec
1991 34.4|| 13.3]] 5.42)
1992 7.37] 4.47} 3.82)| 6.50)| 44.8)) 151.0]) 159.4] 148.4) 36.0} 29.3], 36.1)| 19.3
1993 || 6.39] 7.84) 6.93]| 20.4] 89.2) 164.8] 221.9]| 281.5] 145.2
Mean of monthly || 6.9] 6.2] 5.4 13] 67] 158) 191) 215 91} 32] 25] 12 Discharge)
YEAR
** No Incomplete data have been used for statistical calculation
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U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey TSA.cov Title: Surface Water data for Alaska: USGS Surface-Water Monthly Statistics
URL: http: //waterdata.usgs.gov/ak/nwis/monthly?
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ak/nwis/monthly?referred_module=sw&site_no=15238982&por... 2/26/2010
USGS Surface Water data for Alaska: USGS Surface-Water Monthly Statistics Page 1 of 2
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Etre Pe eee
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National Water Information System: Web Interface
Data Category: Geographic Area: —— Surface Water Alaska l Go |
News - updated January 2010
USGS Surface-Water Monthly Statistics for
Alaska
The statistics generated from this site are based on approved daily-mean data and may not match those published by the USGS in official publications. The user is responsible for assessment and use of statistics from this site. For more details
on why the statistics may not match, click here.
USGS 15238985 BATTLE C NR TIDEWATER NR HOMER AK
Available data for this site _ Time-series: Monthly statistics [GO }
Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska Output formats
Hydrologic Unit Code 19020301 HTML table of all data
Latitude 59°45'20", Longitude 150°57'12" NAD27|
Drainage area 21 square miles Tab-separated data Gage datum 90 feet above sea level NGVD29 Reselect output format
00060, Discharge, cubic feet per second,
Monthly mean in cfs (Calculation Period: 1991-08-01 -> 1993-09-30)
Jan || Feb || Mar || Apr || May || Jun Jul || Aug || Sep || Oct | Nov || Dec
1991 292.3|| 333.7] 69.8}| 28.3]] 14.1
1992 16.5] 12.7] 10.8] 21.5] 111.2) 282.6]| 282.7]| 304.3]} 61.1} 55.9]| 89.9]| 46.7,
1993 11.6] 18.5|| 14.8] 50.4]) 148.7] 230.3]| 295.5|| 391.0] 201.3
Mean of
monthly 14) 16) 13) 36) 130) 256 289/) 329) 199] 63] 59} 30
Discharge
YEAR
** No Incomplete data have been used for statistical calculation
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U.S. Department of the interior | U.S. Geological Survey Title: Surface Water data for Alaska: USGS Surface-Water Monthly Statistics
URL: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ak/nwis/monthly?
http://waterdata.usys.gov/ak/nwis/monthly?referred_module=sw&site_no=15238985&por... 2/26/2010