US Commission issues new operating license for 1,785 MW Ludington Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Project

Consumers Energy Company and DTE Electric Company has received a new 50-year operating license for its 1,785-MW Ludington Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Project.

The two companies filed a settlement agreement for the project in November 2017, which addresses measures to minimize fish entrainment during the new license term and compensation for and mitigation of fish mortality that occurs during the new license term.

The original license was effective in July 30, 1969, and was set to expire June 30, 2019.

The project is located on the east shore of Lake Michigan in Mason County and Ottawa County, Michigan. It consists of upper reservoir with gross storage capacity of 82,300 acre-feet at an elevation of 942 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum 29, concrete intake structure in the upper reservoir, six 1,300-foot-long steel penstocks with diameters ranging from 28.5 feet at the intake to 24 feet at the powerhouse, twelve trashrack screens between the pump inlet/turbine outlet and Lake Michigan, a concrete powerhouse containing six pump-turbine/motor-generator units, two 1,600-foot-long jetties forming the U-shaped tailrace, a breakwater about 1,700 feet long, a 12,850-foot-long fish barrier net installed seasonally around the project jetties and breakwater, and three 1,800-foot-long, 345-kV transmission tie lines. The average annual generation of the project is 2,658,200 MWh.

The new license is effective on July 1, 2019.