HomeMy WebLinkAboutAlaska Dispatch News Article Humpback Creek Hydro Facility Rebuild Jun 2011Alaska Dispatch News
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Home > Rebuilt Cordova hydroelectric plant to return online
Jennifer Gibbins
June 8, 2011
Cordova Electric Cooperative (CEC) is in the final countdown to bringing the Humpback Creek hydro facility
back online this month after five years and a $21 million rebuild. Originally built in 1909, and again in 1991, the
facility was wiped out following the second of two major floods in 2006 that ripped out high- and low -voltage
lines and equipment, bridge abutments, stream banks and rip -rap, and even compromised the concrete
foundation underneath the station's plant.
The flood waters floated a 10,000 pound transformer out of the plant and down river. A 500-pound transformer
was washed half a mile out into the ocean and discovered weeks later during a minus 2-foot tide. The
devastation not only disabled the plant, it demoralized CEC staff who had just completed significant
maintenance work on the existing 1991 facility.
"Humpback Creek hydro is vitally important to Cordova's energy security," said Clay Koplin, CEC chief
executive officer. "This is energy that is generated in Cordova and is not subject to market fluctuations and
barge logistics. We have been absolutely committed to a high -quality rebuild that would provide electric service
to our grand children, great grandchildren and great -great grandchildren."
The new facility is not only designed to withstand raging floods and generations of service, it will capture more
energy, offsetting more diesel consumption, and has been designed with low operation and maintenance
requirements, which can be significant cost factors. Koplin says the plant will now capture as much as 60
percent to 100 percent more energy from the creek, increasing energy production from 2.5 million kilowatt
hours annually for the old facility to 4 million to 5 million annual kilowatt hours in the new one. As a result,
Cordova will see an offset of 300,000-350,000 gallons of diesel fuel annually, resulting in a savings of $1.1
million to $1.45 million annually based on current fuel prices. While this does not necessarily mean electric
rates will drop, it does mean that the fuel portion of residents' electric bills will be reduced, a key factor in
holding the line on Cordova's energy costs in the face of ever rising fuel prices. Additionally, with the new and
improved Humpback Creek online, Cordova can expect to generate upwards of 80 percent of its energy
annually through hydro power.
Meeting processors' needs
While holding the line on energy costs, Humpback Creek is also essential to meeting the increasing seasonal
energy needs of seafood processors. CEC saw a 12 percent jump in energy needs from processors last year
alone following plant expansions. Any gaps between peak demand and hydro power are met through diesel
consumption.
At a ribbon cutting ceremony to be held on June 11, with legislators, funders and community leaders in
attendance, CEC will dedicate the Humpback Creek hydro rebuild to Rep. Bill Thomas. Thomas has been
instrumental in his support of this project and others like it around the state. Given the challenges faced along
the way, Koplin says a debt of gratitude is owed to Thomas.
In the aftermath of the 2006 flood, CEC was faced with a dilemma in which guidelines from FERC, the
regulatory agency that licenses the plant, stipulated that when a dam has failed it has to be rebuilt to current
safety guidelines, while the funding agency, FEMA, said it would only replace or restore a project to its pre -
disaster location, functioning and capacity. Given that the previous site had been revealed to be geologically
unstable, and the pre-existing design insufficient, a simple replacement of the 1991 structure was not realistic.
Adding more twists, as CEC engaged with FEMA, hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf of Mexico and FEMA faced
significant criticism of its operations causing agency representatives to pull back. About that time, CEC went
through a management change. When the Humpback Creek project finally went to bid, it did so two days
before the federal government's massive economic stimulus program came out. With billions of federal dollars
up for grabs, which for the most part excluded funding for hydro projects, CEC found itself in a uncompetitive
market where simply getting the attention of contractors was a challenge. Project timelines had to be pushed
back and a hyper -premium was put on construction work with the lowest bid coming in at $4 million over the
engineers' estimates.
CEC credits Thomas with helping to bring $8 million in state renewable energy dollars to the project. FEMA
eventually came on board with $5.3 million and CEC funded the balance with $8 million. Koplin says he is
conservatively hopeful that once completed the project not require CEC's full commitment, but at the end of the
day CEC's board put a premium on quality of construction from tip to tailrace.
Project engineers have repeatedly compared the CEC project to the Hoover Dam, given the complexity of
geology, hydrology, construction, logistics, daylight and weather. Walking the footpath and bridges along the
massive penstock, which in some places hangs 100 feet above the creek canyon, one cannot help but be
awed by the beauty of Humpback Creek and the epic undertaking to capture its energy whether it be 1909 or
2011.
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