$50 million hydropower project proposed for Saylorville dam

A Texas company wants to build a $50 million hydroelectric project at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Saylorville Dam, a move it says would reduce Iowa's reliance on coal to generate electricity.

Kram Hydro, based in Houston, seeks a preliminary permit to build a hydropower project near the dam, about 11 miles north of Des Moines, potentially generating enough power — 52,000 megawatt hours of electricity — to light, cool and heat 4,800 homes annually.

On Tuesday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said it would accept comments on Kram Hydro's permit request and competing proposals over the next 60 days. The federal notice says Kram Hydro applied for the permit in February to study the project’s feasibility.

The dam, built in 1977 to reduce downstream flooding on the Des Moines River, is part of a popular 26,000-acre recreational complex that includes the 6,000-acre Saylorville reservoir that's used for boating, swimming and fishing.

Kram Hydro proposes to build a channel from the dam’s west side, funneling water through a pipe to power two electricity-generating turbines inside a powerhouse.

The company said Tuesday the project would take two years, 150 builders and 50 support personnel to construct. Five permanent workers would be needed to run the plant, which is expected to last 50 years.

Des Moines Water Works, which taps the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers to provide drinking water to 600,000 central Iowa residents, said Tuesday it was reviewing the hydropower proposal. The central Iowa utility has been assessing a $50 million project that includes drilling three or four groundwater wells along the Des Moines riverbank, where it says sand and gravel will help filter nitrates and other pollutants that are costly and difficult to remove from the raw river water.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says a preliminary permit would give the holder priority to file for a license, but doesn’t allow it to “perform any land-disturbing activities or otherwise enter upon lands or waters owned by others” without permission.

Kram Hydro's Pamela Niditch said in an email the company is “excited … to explore the possibility of bringing clean, renewable energy to the Des Moines area."

While a U.S. leader in wind generation, Iowa ranked 16th nationally in 2022 for its use of coal to generate power, Kram Hydro said.

More: $400 million hydroelectric plant at Red Rock Dam will produce electricity for thousands

“We'll spend the next one to two years engaging with the local community and stakeholders to ensure that we develop an environmentally responsible and beneficial hydropower project that will provide carbon-free energy for generations to come,” she said.

The Saylorville project would be the second hydroelectric project on the Des Moines River. In 2020, a $400 million hydroelectric plant came online in Pella at the Army Corps of Engineer’s Red Rock Dam. It was projected to generate enough energy to power 18,000 homes annually.

The Red Rock Dam is a flood-control structure that has been in place since 1969.

The Keokuk Renewable Energy Center, operating on the Mississippi River since 1913, is the state's largest hydroelectric generating facility, with enough power to run 75,000 homes annually.

Records show that Kram Hydro has three similar hydropower project proposals on dams along the Arkansas and Kentucky rivers.

Donnelle Eller covers agriculture, the environment and energy for the Register. Reach her at deller@registermedia.com or 515-284-8457.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Hydroelectric project proposed for Saylorville dam