Nevada Hydro Company has selected Siemens Power, Transmission and Distribution (PT&D) as the engineers, procure and construction contractor for the Lake Elsinore Advanced Pump Storage project (LEAPS) along with the Talega–Escondido/Valley Serrano (TE/VS) 500kV interconnection.
When completed, LEAPS and TE/VS will generate 500MW to be carried over a high voltage connection between Southern California Edison’s (SCE) transmission grid to the North and San Diego Gas & Electric’s (SDG&E) to the south.
LEAPS will generate electricity using water from Lake Elsinore and an upper reservoir located in the Cleveland National Forest. Water will flow into the lake during high demand periods and then be pumped back into the upper reservoir during low demand.
The construction of a reservoir in the Cleveland National Forest will assist in the stabilisation of Lake Elsinore’s water level – something local officials have struggled with for decades.