The powerhouse for the Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Project is on Schoharie Creek, and contains four pump/turbines that lift water out of the river to an upper reservoir, on Brown Mountain, 1,000 feet above the river, and produce 1,100 megawatts of electricity when water flows back down. The Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Project is one of two pumped storage projects in New York State, and one of a few dozen in the USA. The plant is owned and operated by the New York Power Authority, which operates a visitor center nearby, inside a transformed and repurposed barn, with elaborate interactive displays that describe the project in detail.
The project has an upper storage reservoir on Brown Mountain, and uses a dammed portion of Schoharie Creek as a lower reservoir.base map: Google EarthThe plant facilities are owned and operated by the New York Power Authority, which operates a visitor center nearby, inside a transformed and repurposed barn.CLUI photoHow the four underground penstocks provide water from the upper reservoir to the four turbines in the power plant.CLUI photoCLUI photoCLUI photo