John Dobken, Public Affairs, 509-377-8369
Anna Markham, Public Affairs, 509-377-8162
RICHLAND, Wash. – The new year started off strong for Energy Northwest’s Columbia Generating Station, the third largest producer of electricity in Washington state. The nuclear energy facility sent 860,813 net megawatt-hours of electricity to the Northwest power grid, eclipsing the previous record set in December (859,619 net megawatt-hours). Columbia began commercial operation in 1984.
Columbia operated at a 104.5 percent capacity factor during January. Capacity factor is a ratio based on the maximum amount of electricity the plant could send to the grid at the most restrictive time of the year, which for thermal power plants is during summer.
“Our stakeholders in the region look to us to maximize the benefits from this plant and that means safely producing reliable, carbon-free electricity, every day,” said Brad Sawatzke, chief operating officer. “The work we did during the last refueling outage is having the expected results, increased generation.”
Columbia Generating Station’s output increased at least 28 average megawatts following Refueling and Maintenance Outage 22, which concluded in June. With the increased output, Columbia’s baseline average electricity generation capacity is now 1,190 MW.
“Every extra megawatt of electricity we can produce goes right to the bottom line,” said Brent Ridge, chief financial officer. “That contributes directly to lowering our overall cost of power for the region’s ratepayers.”
All of Columbia’s electricity is sold at-cost to Bonneville Power Administration. Ninety-two Northwest utilities receive a percentage of its output.
About Energy Northwest
Energy Northwest develops, owns and operates a diverse mix of electricity generating resources, including hydro, solar and wind projects – and the Northwest’s only nuclear energy facility. These projects provide enough reliable, affordable and environmentally responsible energy to power more than a million homes each year, and that carbon-free electricity is provided at the cost of generation. As a Washington state, joint action agency, Energy Northwest comprises 27 public power member utilities from across the state serving more than 1.5 million ratepayers. The agency continually explores new generation projects to meet its members’ needs.
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