Rye Development Acquisition LLC has been awarded $12 million (approximately €11.1 million) by the US Department of Energy (DOE) for its proposed Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage project, which aims to establish a pumped storage hydropower facility with a capacity of up to 287 MW in Kentucky. The announcement was made on Tuesday.
The funding, provided by the DOE's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, is part of a larger federal cost share of up to $81 million for the project and will support the initiation of Phase 1 activities. The proposed facility will be constructed on the site of a former coal mine in Bell County, making it the first pumped storage project to be developed on previously mined land. It will feature two man-made reservoirs and provide eight hours of storage capacity, sufficient to supply electricity to approximately 67,000 homes.
Paul Jacob, CEO of Rye Development, emphasized the project's significance, stating, “We have identified additional coal mine sites in the US that are suitable for pumped storage hydropower, where insights gained from the Lewis Ridge facility can support future projects.”
Rye Development is a partnership between Climate Adaptive Infrastructure and EDF Inc. The funding was secured as part of a $475 million allocation round in May, which supported five clean energy projects across the country.
