Rye Development has announced it has been chosen by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to receive $81 million in funding for the Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage Project. This selection comes as part of the DOE’s Clean Energy Demonstration Program on Current and Former Mine Land (CEML), funded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.The Lewis Ridge Project, slated to become one of the first pumped storage hydropower facilities constructed in the US in over three decades, is set to make history as the first such facility to be built on former mine land.
The project will convert former mine land in Bell County, Kentucky, into a closed-loop, 287MW pumped storage hydropower facility, with the capacity to store electricity for up to eight hours and generate electricity to power 67,000 homes
“This project is not only a significant investment in Kentucky; it’s an investment in strengthening our national electricity grid, helping to secure our energy future,” said Paul Jacob, CEO of Rye Development. “The Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage Project will protect against blackouts and brownouts, while transforming a former mining site into a long-term economic engine for the region.”
The construction phase of the project is expected to generate approximately 1,500 jobs over several years and contribute to the economic growth of local businesses and government. Rye Development, in collaboration with Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR), a nonpartisan organization dedicated to fostering prosperity in the Kentucky Appalachian region, is committed to recruiting and training a local workforce.
“In close collaboration with our regional partners, this project demonstrates how we can breathe new life into former mining sites with proven technology built to last for more than a century,” said Sandy Slayton, vice president of Rye Development and the project manager for the Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage Project. “This region and its skilled workforce are ready to create a new energy legacy in Eastern Kentucky.”
