The newly refurbished generating unit resumed commercial operation as scheduled on 30 May, after being out of service since 15 September 2008.
NYPA will now begin work in September on the fourth pump-turbine generator. This final unit is slated to be returned to service in June 2010 and will mark completion of the LEM program. The newly designed turbines, together with other new and refurbished components, will increase the generator's maximum capacity from 260MW to approximately 290MW. At the conclusion of the LEM programme, it is projected the Blenheim-Gilboa project will be capable of producing approximately 1160MW.
The $135M LEM programme marks the first time the pumped storage project has been refurbished since it went into service in 1973.
NYPA is also currently conducting an LEM programme at its St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Project in Massena, with that initiative expected to be completed by 2013. It also completed a 15-year upgrade of its Niagara Power Project, near Niagara Falls, in late 2006 to enhance the efficiency of the project's main generating facility and extend its operating life.
