Edward Hyatt Pump-Generating Plant - Oroville, California
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member DougK
N 39° 32.009 W 121° 29.141
10S E 630140 N 4377074
In 1968, the Oroville Dam began to generate electricity after completion of the Edward Hyatt Pump-Generating Plant. At that time, it was the country's largest underground power station.
Waymark Code: WMMKDA
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 10/02/2014
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member fi67
Views: 5

Six hydro-electric generators at located inside the Oroville Dam and not visible. The electric power station can be seen at the base of the dam. Wikipedia tells the history of the power plant:

Construction of the underground Edward Hyatt Pump-Generating Plant was finished shortly after the completion of Oroville Dam. At the time, it was the largest underground power station in the United States, with three 132 megawatt (MW) conventional turbines and three 141 MW pump-generators for a total installed capacity of 819 MW. The Hyatt Powerplant is capable of pumping water back into Lake Oroville when surplus power is available. The pump-generators at Hyatt can lift up to 5,610 cubic feet per second (159 cubic meters per second) into Lake Oroville (with a net consumption of 519 MW), while the six turbines combined utilize a flow of 16,950 cubic feet per second (480 cubic meters per second) at maximum generation.

Since 1969, the Hyatt plant has worked in tandem with an extensive pumped-storage operation comprising two offstream reservoirs west of Oroville. These two facilities are collectively known as the Oroville-Thermalito Complex. Water is diverted into the upper Thermalito reservoir (Thermalito Forebay) via the Thermalito Diversion Dam on the Feather River. During periods of off-peak power use, surplus energy generated at Hyatt is used to lift water from Thermalito's lower reservoir (the Thermalito Afterbay) to the forebay, which releases water back into the afterbay to generate up to 114 MW of power at times of high demand. The Hyatt and Thermalito plants produce an average of 2.2 billion kilowatt hours (KWh) of electricity each year, about half of the total power produced by the SWP's eight hydroelectric facilities.

Operational: yes

Type of power station: Conventional (dams)

Operator: California Department of Water Resources (DWR)

Visitor center: yes

Date built: 01/01/1968

Generation capacity: 819 MW

Type of turbine: Not listed

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