The Snoqualmie Falls Hydroelectric Plant is located just north of Snoqualmie in King County, Washington state, US. It is situated about 35 km east of Seattle. Located just below the Snoqualmie Falls, the power plant consists of two power houses, Plant 1 and Plant 2. Plant 1 was completed in 1899 and is located underground. It is the first completely underground hydroelectric power plant ever built in the world.
Plant 2 was built in 1910 and is located along the right bank of the Snoqualmie River. Both plants receive water from a small reservoir created by a weir atop the falls. Plant 1 has an installed capacity of 13.7 MW and Plant 2 a capacity of 40.2 MW for a total installed capacity of 53.9 MW, enough to power 40,000 homes.
Plant 1 was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Snoqualmie Falls Cavity Generating Station on April 23, 1976. In 1981, Plant 1 was also designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The power plant is owned by Puget Sound Energy. In 1992, Snoqualmie Falls Hydroelectric Power Plant Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
In 2010, PSE’s Snoqualmie Falls Power Plant began a four-year refurbishment project, including updates to the plant infrastructure and recreational areas, which concluded in March 2014. PSE utilized easy-to-install Victaulic products on the plant’s penstock, cooling water, sump pump, lube oil, and compressed air lines.
According to victaulic.com; en.wikipedia.org. Source of photos: internet
