Brookfield Renewable Power announced that it has started the rehabilitation of the 5.5-MW Glen Ferris hydropower project located on the Kanawha River in Glen Ferris, West Virginia.
Brookfield is investing $25 million to bring the hydroelectric project, built in 1899, back into full production. The project includes the overhaul and modernization of the facility’s eight turbine units over a 21-month period, during which local skilled union trades and labor will be employed. Thirty construction jobs will be created, Brookfield reported.
"We are pleased to be able to invest in rehabilitating the Glen Ferris station," said Kim Osmars, Brookfield’s chief operating officer and senior vice president for U.S. operations and development. "The station helped power the region’s industrial production for well over a century, and this overhaul will make it a part of West Virginia’s energy future."
Once completed, the Glen Ferris hydropower project will generate more than 38,000 megawatt hours a year of renewable power for the West Virginia electricity market, or enough electricity for 4,500 households.
The rehabilitation of the Glen Ferris facility includes restoring all eight turbine units to their original capacity and converting them to a three-phase configuration for compatibility with today’s power transmission grid. A new access bridge, upgrade of the two powerhouse cranes and the installation of new step-up transformers, generator breakers and controls are also included in the construction. Brookfield has assembled a construction and engineering team that includes D.A. Collins as the general contractor and Hatch Engineering as the owner’s engineer, as well as local subcontractors Nitro Electric Company and Danhill Construction. D.A. Collins is also contracting local labor, as well as diving, crane and machining services.
