Goat Lake Hydropower Project up for Re-Certification as Low Impact
Portland, Maine - (September 18, 2011) LIHI is pleased to announce that Alaska Telephone and Power have submitted an application to Re-Certify their Goat Lake Project, FERC No. 11077. The project' LIHI certification expired on October 23, 2011, however LIHI neglected to send Alaska Power and Telephone (APT) a re-certification notice and as a result of our mistake, we are extending the date for filing a re-certification application to December 1, 2011. Under normal conditions, LIHI would have sent ATP a re-certification letter 3-4 months (June-July 2011) in advance of the Goat Lake certificate expiring. We are currently making improvements to our data base and reminder files to hopefully eliminate these kinds of administrative errors in the future.
Portland, Maine - (April 2, 2007) The Institute’s Governing Board has determined that the Goat Lake Project, FERC No. 11077, meets the Low Impact Hydropower Certification Criteria. In reaching its decision to certify the Goat Lake Project, the Low Impact Hydropower Institute’s Governing Board reviewed the application for certification, as well as the Application Reviewer’s report. The Board’s vote to certify the Goat Lake Project as a Low Impact facility was unanimous. LIHI received no public comments on this application. The certification of the Goat Lake Project facility is valid for five years and will expire on October 23, 2011. During the time the Goat Lake Project is certified as low impact, you may market the Goat Lake Project facilities as a certified Low Impact Hydropower facility.
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PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Goat Lake Hydroelectric Project is located approximately 6.5 miles northeast of Skagway, Alaska. The lake is situated in a perched cirque valley at El 2925. The lake lies east and south of the Skagway River. The drainage basin for Goat Lake and Pitchfork Falls Creek includes 4.2 square-miles. The lake is fed by a glacier at its south end. The glacier covers about 1.7 square miles, contributing approximately 80-85% of its runoff to the lake. The glacier terminates near the south end of the lake in a coarse rubble moraine, consisting principally of large angular granitic blocks. The lake outlet, located about 300 feet north of the end of the moraine, flows through a bedrock notch and contributes the major portion of the water flow in Pitchfork Falls. After the falls this same water then joins the Skagway River.
The Goat Lake Hydroelectric Project is a storage project with a 4.0 MW capacity used as a reservoir without any dam. The lake continues to have an uncontrolled spillway using the original outlet. A siphon intake extends into the lake a horizontal distance of 369-feet to obtain 185-feet of submergence, or an elevation of 2740, potentially drawing the lake down to the approximate elevation 2885 at peak use, during the winter. The intake, consisting of a v-shaped wedgewire screen assembly, is connected to the siphon pump by a 30-inch-diameter high density polyethylene chloride (HDPE) penstock which changes to a 28-inch-diameter steel penstock approximately 82-feet before the siphon house. The siphon pump connects with a valve house via a 704-foot-long, 30-inch-diameter HDPE penstock. A catchbasin located at approximately 2,885-feet above mean sea level (msl) catches runoff from the glacier moraine that bypasses the lake.
The catchbasin is connected to a pumpback house via an 18-inch-diameter HDPE penstock. The pumpback house draws water from the catchbasin and pumps the water back to the lake via a 16- inch-diameter, 640-foot-long HDPE penstock by using four pumps of various horsepower (HP). The valve house also has a 16-inch bypass flow pipe for when additional water is needed in Pitchfork Falls Creek at certain times of the year. A minimum of 8.5 cfs is required for visual concerns from May 15 – September 30 for12 hours each day. This is operated via a SCADA system that measures flows and releases or stops releases when required. The valve house also has a 28-inchdiameter HDPE penstock to approximately the 2,610 foot elevation where the penstock transitions to a 24-inch-diameter steel pipe to the powerhouse. At the 990-foot elevation the penstock crosses under the historic White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad (WP&YR-RR) via an approximately 40-foot-long pipe conduit. At the 777-foot elevation the penstock passes through a 48-inch-diameter pipe conduit over the Skagway River, to the west bank, to the powerhouse, at 769-feet above msl.
The powerhouse contains one horizontal shaft Pelton turbine and associated 4.0 MW synchronous generator for a total installed capacity of 4.0 MW. A tailrace transports the turbine discharge approximately 70 feet to the Skagway River. A small substation is located adjacent to the powerhouse. A pole mounted 34.5 kV transmission line begins at the substation and parallels the Skagway River, following the west side for approximately 4,538 feet to a point across from Clifton and ascends to the distribution line from Skagway serving the U.S. Custom's Border Station on the Klondike Highway.
60-DAY PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD FOR THE GOAT LAKE HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT RUNS THROUGH APRIL 15, 2012
We encourage public comments on this application. Specifically, we are interested in knowing whether you think the Goat Lake Hydroelectric Project meets our Low Impact criteria. Review our program and criteria (click on the "Low Impact Certification Program" to the left), and then review the Goat Lake Hydroelectric Project information. Comments that are directly tied to specific Low Impact criteria (flows, water quality, fish passage, etc) will be most helpful, but all comments will be considered. Comments may be submitted to the Institute by e-mail (preferred) at info@lowimpacthydro.org with "Goat Lake Hydroelectric Project" in the subject line; or by mail addressed to LIHI, 34 Providence Street, Portland, ME 04103. Comments must be received at the Institute on or before 5 pm pacific time on April 15, 2012 to be considered. All comments will be posted to the web site and Alaska Power and Telephone Company will have an opportunity to respond. Any response will also be posted.
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Portland, Maine (March 28, 2007), the LIHI Governing Board certified the Goat Lake Hydropower Project as Low Impact. The Board determined that the Goat Lake Project meets LIHI's eight environmentally rigorous Low Impact criteria addressing river flows, water quality, fish passage and protection, watershed health, endangered species protection, cultural resources, recreation use and access, and whether or not the dam itself has been recommended for removal.
The Goat Lake Project successfully completed LIHI's application process, which includes a public comment period, review by an independent technical consultant, consultations with state and federal natural resource agencies, and evaluation by the LIHI Governing Board, including leaders in the river conservation and renewable energy fields. The Board's vote to certify the Goat Lake Project was unanimous.
SUMMARY
In October 2006, Alaska Power and Telephone (APT) filed an application for Low Impact Certification for their Goat Lake Project. The project is a 4.0 Mw hydro project at Goat Lake which is located seven miles north of Skagway, Alaska. The lake is situated on a perched cirque valley at Elevation 2925. The lake lies east and south of the Skagway River.
Installed capacity: 4.0 Megawatts (MW)
Facility location: The Goat Lake Hydroelectric Project is a 4.0 Mw hydro project at Goat Lake 7 miles north of Skagway.
Average annual generation: 12.7 gigawatt-hours
FERC license: FERC No. 11077 issued in 1996
Applicant: Alaska Power and Telephone Company (APT)
Applicant contact: Mr. Glen Martin, Project Manager, 193 Otto Street, P.O. Box 3222, Port Townsend, WA (360) 385-1733 x122
Date application posted to website: October 23, 2006
Date public comment period closes: December 23, 2006
Projected date for preliminary certification decision: January or March 2007
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APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATION
Portland, Maine (October 23, 2006) - Alaska Power & Telephone, has submitted an application for certification of its Goat Lake Hydroelectric Project, which is located approximately 7 miles northeast of Skagway, Alaska. Goat Lake is situated in a perched cirque valley at elevation 2925. The lake which has a drainage area of 4.2 square miles, lies east and south of the Skagway River. Goat Lake is fed by a glacier at its south end.
The hydroelectric facility is a storage project with a 4 MW capacity that started operations in 1997. The Lake is used as a reservoir without any dam. Goat Lake is a very deep natural lake. Inflows to the lake come from precipitation and glacial runoff. The glacier covers about 1.7 square miles and contributes approximately 80-85% of its runoff to the lake. The glacier which is located above the moraine at the south end of the lake, also provides runoff to a catch basin below Goat Lake and to Pitchfork Falls, which descends about 2,100 feet in elevation from the pond to its confluence with the Skagway River.
The project is a storage project with an installed capacity of 4 MW. The lake is used as the project reservoir but has no dam. A siphon intake extends into the lake a horizontal distance of 395-feet to obtain 185-feet of submergence or an elevation of 2740, potentially drawing the lake down to the approximate elevation 2885 at peak use during the winter. The intake is connected to a siphon pump by a 30-inch polyethylene penstock which changes to a 28-inch steel penstock approximately 82-feet before the siphon house. The siphon pump connects with the valve house via a 704-foot-long 30-inch penstock. The valve house has a 28-inch pipe that runs to elevation 2610-foot elevation where the penstock transitions to a 24-inch steel penstock to the powerhouse.
At the 900-foot elevation the penstock crosses under a historic railway via a 40-foot-long pipe conduit. At the 777-foot elevation the penstock passé through a 48-inch pipe conduit over the Skagway River, to the west bank, to the powerhouse at elevation 769-feet. The powerhouse contains one Pelton turbine and associated 4.0 MW generator. A tailrace transport the turbine discharge approximately 70-feet to the Skagway River. AP&T operates the project using the normal outflow from Goat Lake to generate power. They also draft Goat Lake during periods of low runoff and high energy demands. AP&T operates the project using the normal inflow to Goat Lake to generate power. They also draft Goat Lake during periods of low runoff and high energy demands. One of the FERC license conditions is that the project must pass 13 cfs over a 6,200-foot-long bypassed reach (Pitchfork Falls Creek) during the months of May through September for 12 hours a day to "maintain the natural aesthetics of the area."
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