Regulators in Alberta, Canada, approved construction of the 75 megawatt (MW) Canyon Creek Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Project, making it one of the first large-scale energy storage projects in the province.

Developer Turning Point Generation will build the facility that will make use of existing infrastructure from a decommissioned open pit coal mine.

The project includes an upper storage pond, a receiving pond some 500 meters lower in elevation, a penstock connecting the two ponds and a powerhouse and pump station that house both turbine-generators and high-volume pumps.

Preliminary designs indicated that the power plant would consist of three 25 MW Pelton turbines. The pump house would consist of four 16 MW three-stage horizontal axis pumps. The project would have a total storage capacity of 37 hours.

The system will be closed-loop and off-stream after its initial fill from the nearby Athabasca River. The developer expects to draw small quantities of water from time to time to account for leaks and evaporation.

Turning Point is a unit of WindRiver Power Corp, which develops, owns and operates renewable energy projects in western Canada and internationally, with a focus on run-of-river hydro and wind generation.