Stage 9 ended up near the Poppy Canyon Reservoir. It continues directly to stage 11 without a reservoir, but has a diversion point to deliver water to stage 10 to cpmpensate for evaporation and seepage. The Poppy Canyon Reservoir is 400 feet high and will top out at 5360 feet with a maximum water level at 5350 feet. This is the western high point in the Transcontinental aqueduct. This stage can deliver peak energy only 5 hours a day, or deliver the day’s worth of peak energy whenever called for. To make this possible there will be a tunnel and pumping station capable of delivering up to 95,000 cfs when called for. The drop is maximum (5410 – 3690 – 13×2.2) = 1702 feet and minimum (5300 – 4000 -13×2.2) = 1272 feet with an average of 1500 feet, delivering 11.0 GW of pumped hydro-storage peak power for 5 hours a day for a total of 55 GWh/day For the remaining 19 hours water will be pumped up using thirty-one 100 MW MFTR reactors requiring 59 GWh/day. These 31 MW are available for 5 hours a day as extra peak power.
The tunnel to the Cove Tank reservoir is 13 miles long and the power station is somewhere in the tunnel’s path. 80% of the pumps are not reversible, the remaining 20% are, and pump up water for up to 19 hours. The Cove Tank Reservoir dam is 1 mile wide and 250 feet high, containing 60,000 acre-ft of water, enough for 7.5 hrs of filling it at 95,000 cfs, or maximum flow capacity of this stage.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 