Modernizing for more megawatts: Columbia’s EPU journey

[Marlin]

Modernizing for more megawatts: Columbia's EPU journey

https://www.ans.org/news/article-8410/modernizing-for-more-megawatts-columbias-epu-journey/

[Core Content]

Energy Northwest is advancing an extended power uprate project at the Columbia Generating Station. The multi-year effort will add roughly 186 megawatts of total electrical output to the northwestern regional grid by 2031. Engineers used laser scanning during the recent 2025 refueling outage to map plant structures for upcoming equipment installations.

The single-reactor boiling water reactor, which entered commercial operation in 1984 and holds an operating license through 2043, is integrating the uprate modifications into scheduled biennial refueling outages. By coordinating life cycle management work with uprate requirements, plant operators reduced capital costs and minimized technical risks while supporting rising regional baseload demand.

Columbia Generating Station is the third-largest power-generating resource in Washington state and the region's only operating nuclear plant.

It has long served the Bonneville Power Administration's (BPA's) public power customers as a 24/7, not-for-profit baseload complement to hydropower, providing operational flexibility during low-water months and supporting grid stability as renewables scale up and contribute their power on a variable basis. Under BPA's net billing framework, Columbia's output is marketed at cost, integrating clean, firm capacity into a hydro-dominant system that increasingly faces volatility and growing load.

Read the full article at ans.org:
https://www.ans.org/news/article-8410/modernizing-for-more-megawatts-columbias-epu-journey/