Energy Northwest secures operating license for 26 MW hydropower project in Washington

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of the USA has awarded a 40-year operating license to Energy Northwest for its 26.125 MW Packwood Lake hydropower project in Washington State, located in the north-west of the country.

Packwood Lake is on Lake Creek, a tributary of the Cowlitz River, in Lewis County. The project occupies 511.65 acres of federal land within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and Goat Rocks Wilderness, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service.

FERC issued the original operating license for the project in July 1960, and it expired in February 2010. Since then, Energy Northwest has operated Packwood Lake under an annual license pending disposition of the new license application.

Energy Northwest proposes no increased capacity or new project facilities but does intend to make several operational changes intended to enhance aquatic habitat.