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FEBRUARY / MARCH 2020 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS
Borgquist found a new generation of
pumped storage hydro facilities had been
build in Europe and was being built in China.
These units were designed as a shock absorber
for grids using renewable energy.
With development of wind energy in
Montana, Borgquist felt the state was an ideal
location for this new generation of pumped
storage hydro equipment.
Initially, Borgquist analyzed the feasibility
of using the Berkeley Pit for a pumped storage
hydro unit, but the Pit didn’t possess the
required environmental and geologic attri-
butes. Pumped storage hydro units need to be
located near high-volume transmission lines,
with adequate water availability, and on land
with a thousand feet of elevation difference
within a short distance between two reser-
voirs. He found the that the 400-acre Gordon
Butte site three miles west of Martinsdale,
Mont., had all of the needed features.
OPERAtION
Gordon Butte was formed from volcanic
activity and has a steep incline with a rela-
tively flat top. Cottonwood Creek, which is
a Musselshell River tributary, flows nearby.
Through irrigation causeways, creek water
will fill the lower reservoir.
Nearby transmission lines transport elec-
tricity to the three 135 megawatts (MW)
pumps during peak wind production or
whenever there is excess electricity on the
grid. Neighboring transmission lines function
at nearly full capacity, but with two Colstrip
units closing down, room for additional
transmission will be available. Conveniently,
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Rendering of the Gordon Butte Pumped Storage
Hydro Facility. Photo courtesy of Absaroka Energy.
the transmission lines are within six miles of
Gordon Butte.
During periods of slow or non-existent
renewable energy output, water stored in
the 4,000 acre-foot upper reservoir will
surge through a pipe down the side of the
thousand-foot butte with increasing speed,
flow through three 135 MW turbines, and
produce electricity. The Gordon Butte facility
is designed to discharge water and produce
400 MW of electricity for 8.5 hours. It will
take 10 hours to recharge by pumping water
back into the upper reservoir.
PUttING It ALL tOGEtHER
Bor gqui s t f oun d Copen hagen
Infrastructure Partners of Denmark, an
experienced group of renewable energy
bankers who like good clean projects, to
assist in financing. “It is an honor to have
them involved,” said Borgquist.
Absaroka Energy has also acquired water
rights to fill the project reservoir, voluntarily
restricting use to runoff in Cottonwood Creek.
It will take approximately 35 days initially to
fill the lower reservoir. Due to evaporation,
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additional water will be added to replenish
what was lost, which will take only two or
three days.
Borgquist maintains a relationship with
the Public Service Commissions in the
Northwest States to keep them informed.
He also has to sell the electricity produced
at the pumped storage hydro facility. For
that he is working with large commercial
end-users who will become customers. The
project will cost approximately $5 million
a year to operate, maintain, and produce
hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue,
resulting in a large tax benefit to state and
local governments.
Black and Veatch, a worldwide firm with
energy development and distribution experi-
ence, will do the engineering; General Electric
will build the equipment; and Ames and Dick
Anderson Construction will construct the
project. As many as 300 to 400 workers will be
needed during the estimated four-year con-
struction period to build the project, which
will cost close to a billion dollars. Anywhere
from 20 to 24 employees will be needed to
operate Gordon Butte Pumped Storage Hydro
Facility once construction is completed.
IMPACt
“As the largest privately funded infra-
structure project in Montana’s history, work
on the Gordon Butte Pumped Storage Hydro
Facility is projected to begin in 2020. The eco-
nomic impact on Montana will be enormous,”
said Borgquist. MSN
William Rideg