OR

Sullivan P-2233

General information

Waterway  Willamette River
Current status   Active license 
Type of facility Conventional Hydro
Mode of hydropower generation Run-of-river
Type of permit FERC License

FERC information

FERC docket # P-2233
FERC project name Willamette Falls
Permit issued 12/3/05
Permit expiration 11/26/35

Ownership and operation

Owner Portland General Electric Co
Owner type Investor-Owned Utility
Year first online (conventional hydro) 1924
Transmission or distribution system owner Portland General Electric Co

Power and generating capacity

Number of units 15
Total capacity from hydraulic turbine-generator units within each plant 15.4 MW
Average annual net hydropower generation 113,053.9 MWH

The Willamette Falls project dam is located at river mile (RM) 26.5 on the Willamette River. Willamette Falls is a horseshoe-shaped, 40-foot-high, natural waterfall that marks the head of the tidally influenced lower Willamette River, a tributary of the Columbia River. The project dam is located along the crest of Willamette Falls and consists of a 600-foot-long, 20-foot-high concrete spillway section with a crest elevation of 55.0 feet above mean sea level (msl) and a 2,300-foot-long, 6 to 20-foot-high concrete dam with a crest elevation of 52.0 feet msl (54.0 feet msl with flashboards). The 600- foot-long spillway section is equipped with stop logs to prevent overflow during normal flow conditions.

The project contains two separate hydroelectric generating developments: (1) the 15,180-kilowatt (kW), T.W. Sullivan development located on the west (West Linn) side of the river at Willamette Falls and (2) the 1,500-kW, BHPC development located on the east (Oregon City) side of the river at Willamette Falls. It also includes the West Linn Paper Company’s (formerly Simpson Development) grinder rooms number two and three at the north abutment of the dam.

Source: FERC

The Willamette Falls project was certified as a low-impact project by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute in December 2012.

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