[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 78 (Monday, April 26, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22046-22047]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-08607]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 15090-000]


Energy Recycling Company, LLC; Notice of Preliminary Permit 
Application Accepted for Filing and Soliciting Comments, Motions To 
Intervene, and Competing Applications

    On February 8, 2021, Energy Recycling Company, LLC, filed an 
application for a preliminary permit, pursuant to section 4(f) of the 
Federal Power Act, proposing to study the feasibility of the Bigstone 
Pumped Storage Project (Bigstone Project or project) to be located near 
the City of Milbank, Grant County, South Dakota. The sole purpose of a 
preliminary permit, if issued, is to grant the permit holder priority 
to file a license application during the permit term. A preliminary 
permit does not authorize the permit holder to perform any land-
disturbing activities or otherwise enter upon lands or waters owned by 
others without the owners' express permission.
    The proposed project is a closed loop pumped storage project that 
would consist of the following: (1) A 55-foot-high, 120-acre-area 
circular upper reservoir constructed as a concrete-lined rockfill 
embankment with a total storage capacity of approximately 3,500 acre-
feet operating between a maximum water surface elevation of 1,145 feet 
mean sea level (msl) and a minimum water surface elevation of 1,095 
feet msl; (2) a reinforced concrete ``morning glory'' type upper intake 
of circular configuration with a maximum outside diameter of 
approximately 100-feet and an inside diameter of 18-feet; (3) a 2,800-
foot-long, 16-foot-diameter vertical penstock excavated in granitic 
bedrock and steel-lined extending between the upper intake and the 
pump/turbines below; (4) an underground eight concentric circular 
tunnels lower reservoir with diameters from 5,400 feet to 4,200 feet 
excavated in granitic bedrock, located 2,500 feet below the ground 
surface elevation of 1,095 feet msl, with a usable storage capacity 
approximately the same as the upper reservoir and operational water 
elevations between minus 1,410 feet msl and minus 1,452.5 feet msl; (5) 
a 200-foot-long, 70-foot-wide, 130-foot-high powerhouse located 300 
feet below the lower reservoir containing two reversible Francis pump/
turbine-motor/generator units rated for 333 megawatts each; (6) a 240-
foot-long, 50-foot-wide, 40-foot-high underground transformer gallery; 
(7) a 200-foot-square above ground substation; (8) a 1.5-mile-long, 
345-kilovolt (kV) transmission line extending from the substation to an 
existing 345-kV transmission line owned by others; and (9) appurtenant 
facilities. There would be no federal land within the proposed project 
boundary. The estimated annual generation of the Bigstone Project would 
be 1,450 gigawatt-hours.
    Applicant Contact: Mr. Douglas Spaulding, P.E., Nelson Energy, 8441 
Wayzata Blvd., Suite 101, Golden Valley, MN 55426; phone: (952) 544-
8133.
    FERC Contact: Sergiu Serban; phone: (202) 502-6211.
    Deadline for filing comments, motions to intervene, competing 
applications (without notices of intent), or notices of intent to file 
competing applications: 60 days from the issuance of this notice. 
Competing applications and notices of intent must meet the requirements 
of 18 CFR 4.36.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
comments, motions to intervene, notices of intent, and competing 
applications using the Commission's eFiling system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. Commenters can submit brief 
comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the 
eComment system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ecomment.asp. You 
must include your name and contact information at the end of your 
comments. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at

[[Page 22047]]

[email protected], (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, you may submit a paper copy. 
Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via 
any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852. The first page of any filing should include docket 
number P-15090-000.
    More information about this project, including a copy of the 
application, can be viewed or printed on the ``eLibrary'' link of 
Commission's website at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibrary.asp. 
Enter the docket number (P-15090) in the docket number field to access 
the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.

    Dated: April 20, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-08607 Filed 4-23-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P