ESTES POWERPLANT
Estes Powerplant
| Plant Contact: | Max Spiker Plant Foreman |
| Telephone Numbers: | Phone: (970) 586-4151 Fax: (970) 577-0487 |
| E-Mail Address: | mspiker@gp.usbr.gov |
| Reclamation Region: | Great Plains |
| NERC Region: | Western Electricity Coordinating Council, Rocky Mountain Power Area |
| PMA Service Area: | Western Area Power Administration, Rocky Mountain Region |
| Project Authorization: | The President approved the Secretary of the Interior's finding of feasibility on December 21, 1937. |
| Project Purposes: | The Colorado-Big Thompson Project is one of the largest and most complex natural resource developments undertaken by Reclamation. It consists of over 100 structures integrated into a transmountain water diversion system through which multiple benefits are provided to the people. The project spreads over approximately 250 miles in Colorado. It stores, regulates, and diverts water from the Colorado River on the western slope of the Continental Divide to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. It provides supplemental water for irrigation of about 720,000 acres of land, municipal and industrial use, hydroelectric power, and water-oriented recreation opportunities. |
| Plant Purpose: | The powerplant takes diversion water delivered from Marys Lake Powerplant and holds it in Lake Estes for the project. A side benefit is the generation of hydroelectric power for the project. |
| Plant Facts: | Lake Estes, below Estes Powerplant, is formed by Olympus Dam constructed across the Big Thompson River. The afterbay storage in Lake Estes and the forebay storage in Marys Lake enable the Estes Powerplant to meet daily variations in energy demand. |
| Plant History: | The water and power control center for Colorado - Big Thompson Project’s reservoirs, power plants, and transmission lines in Wyoming, Colorado, and western Nebraska is at the project headquarters in Loveland, Colorado. This Western Division of the Missouri River Basin is an interconnected system of 15 Reclamation power plants. |
| Present Activities: | Normal Operations |
| Future Planned Activities: | None |
| Special Issues: | None |
| River: | Transmountain diversion |
| Plant Type: | Conventional |
| Powerhouse Type: | Above Ground |
| Turbine Type: | Francis |
| Original Nameplate Capacity: | 45,000 kW |
| Installed Capacity: | 45,000 kW |
| Year of Initial Operation: | 1950 |
| Age: | 55 years |
| Net Generation: (FY 2005) |
69,869,040 kWh |
| Rated Head: | 515 feet |
| Plant Factor: (FY 2005) |
17.97 percent |
| Remotely Operated: | Yes |
| Production Mode: | Intermediate |
Click here for graphs and charts of Estes Powerplant performance.
Click here for information on the Colorado-Big Thompson Project.
Revised December 30, 2005 Hydropower Site Map Help