US hydropower developer Rye Development has formed a partnership with Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company (KU) to evaluate the 266MW Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage Project. Located on a former coal mine in Bell County, eastern Kentucky, the US$1.3bn facility would be the state's first pumped hydro asset and among the first built in the US in over three decades.
The eight-hour system will function as a grid-scale water battery, cycling water between two elevated reservoirs to generate dispatchable electricity during peak demand. The development is supported by US$81m in federal funding from the US Department of Energy and is projected to create 2,300 jobs during its four-year construction phase.
The project received its preliminary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) permit in 2022 and is currently advancing through the final licensing stage. Following their ongoing technical evaluation, LG&E and KU will seek approval from the Kentucky Public Service Commission. If authorised, construction could commence in 2027, targeting commercial operations by 2031.
Track more details directly on EICDataStream.