Work includes removing existing switchyard steel and concrete structures, constructing an oil-spill containment system, removing existing electrical equipment and installing new switchyard steel structures. The contract also includes modifying security fencing and other features around the exterior of the facility.
Onsite construction activity will begin in July 2013, after equipment required for the job is manufactured by the contractor. The entire project is expected to be completed in October 2013. The project is being funded by the Bonneville Power Administration which markets power produced at USBR-owned facilities.
The Chandler Powerplant was completed in 1956, and it includes two 6MW, 4160 volt hydropower generators, and two 2600 horsepower pumps which operate from a 10.6 mile canal, diverting up to 1500ft3/sec of water from the Prosser Diversion Dam.
The powerplant is part of a combined irrigation and power development project known as the Kennewick Division that also provides water to about 19,171 acres of irrigable land.
