Conventional Hydro Power Could Be Coming To Red Rock Dam

Red Rock Dam - Pella Iowa

Pella, Iowa – The power plant could provide up to 50,000 people with needed electricity

Nelson Energy of Minneapolis, Minnesota is looking to develop a traditional hydroelectric power generating facility at the Red Rock Dam located near Pella, Iowa. They are a group that focuses on the development of hydroelectric projects with one about to go into operation in the Minneapolis area itself. They look at developing hydroelectric at existing dams and similar facilities.

“The driving factor for hydro-electric power are two factors. The drop from the upper reservoir to the lower reservoir, and flow. Red Rock has about 55 feet of head [drop] which is very high for a Midwestern project, and it has a fair amount of flow on the Des Moines River.” Doug Spaulding said of the groups choice to look at the location to build the plant.

“The drainage basin for the Des Moines is fairly extensive, and so that insulates you from the variations of local weather patterns.” Bob Larson added on the choice in selecting the site.

“Tentatively construction could begin at the end of 2012, and if that were the case, we would likely be in commercial operation near the end of 2015 or beginning of 2016.” Larson said of the schedule when and if the project continues forward.

The steps needed to clear before work could even being at this point would be. The group has a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license to operate the facility, but the Corp of Engineers would need to approve the plans on their facility before work could start. “The Corp needs to review our designs and approve our designs essentially to move forward.” Larson said of one of the big steps yet. “We also need to finalize our plugging into the Midwest Independent System Operator transmission system. That process is ongoing now.”

The generating system once it’s installed would be a 35 megawatt or 174 million kilowatt hours on an average every year. You can think of a kilowatt as leaving on a 100 watt light bulb for 10 hours. “174 million kilowatt hours will serve approximately 50,000 people on the average.” Larson said of energy production the plant could produce. “If this 174 million kilowatt hours were produced by a coal plant, it would be the equivalent of 35,000 automobile emissions.” he went on to say about using this type of process to help save green house gases and the environment.

One of the benefits of hydro-electric is it’s a stable power source, and in turn, that helps those that manage the power grid know what they will have available to them.

Missouri River Energy Services is a company that manages power for municipal utilities. They currently purchase and manage power for 61 communities. Pella recently joined them in helping to provide extra energy for their needs. “It would take pressure off the system.” Spaulding explained of the growing demands for power.

“The power from the project is going to go into the grid. Once it goes into the grid, anybody can pull it off of the grid at any spot.” Larson explained of how power is shared. He went on to say just from location and geography, much of the power would end up in Pella and Oskaloosa.

The power plant has an estimated cost of $150 million.

The plant would be located in the concrete walls on the North side (Pella side) of the metal gates at the dam.