SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - The Bureau of Reclamation awarded Yellowstone Electric Company of Montana a $1.3 million contract to replace the unit breaker and modify the excitation system for the generator at Fontenelle Powerplant near LaBarge, Wyoming, on September 15.
Work performed under this contract will benefit Fontenelle Powerplant by upgrading several of the vintage components of the power facility originally installed in the 1960's. These components are no longer supported by the manufacturer and finding replacement parts is no longer possible. The new components will also improve safety for workers who maintain the facility. These upgrades will make Fontenelle Powerplant a more efficient and reliable facility for producing clean, renewable hydroelectricity into the future.
“The upgrade to new modern equipment will benefit Fontenelle by enhancing our ability to employ remote operational control, improve generator and system reliability, and create a safer maintenance work environment," said Field Division Manager Steve Hulet.
Fontenelle Dam is a zoned earthfill structure with a spillway that consists of an uncontrolled crest, an open chute, and a stilling basin and has a design capacity flow of 20,200 cubic feet per second. The powerplant is located adjacent to the toe of the dam, with the power penstock branching from the river outlet works. It consists of one 10,000-kilowatt generator and one 16,000-horsepower hydraulic turbine that produce hydroelectricity, a resource administered through Western Area Power Administration that provides power to 15 Central and Western States.
Fontenelle Reservoir provides storage and regulation of flows of the Green River for power generation, municipal and industrial use, fish and wildlife, and recreation for camping, picnicking, and boating.
The work is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2016.
For more information about Fontenelle Dam and Powerplant please visit: http://www.usbr.gov/projects/Powerplant.jsp?fac_Name=Fontenelle Powerplant.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
