Chelan PUD Commissioners Approve Lease for Helion to Construct on Malaga Property

Chelan PUD commissioners approved a lease allowing Helion Energy to build a fusion power plant of up to 80 acres of district-owned land.

The lease authorizes a 20-acre parcel of land for a 100 megawatt generator facility, with up to 60 more acres in reserve until 2038.

Lease Approval Marks Key Step in Fusion Project

The approval from commissioners authorizes General Manager Kirk Hudson move forward with finalizing the lease. Helion is still awaiting permits to begin construction, but the lease is the first step.

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Lease Terms and Construction Timeline

The lease oversees four project phases: Development, construction, a 50-year operation term with options for two 1-year extensions with mutual agreement, and decommissioning, which Helion must complete over a minimum period of 10 years plus one-year extensions to 15 years maximum.

Permitting and Regulatory Requirements

Chelan County must authorize building permits for the admin, assembly, and generator buildings, with an additional permit required for conditional use of the generator building. Helion must also obtain an air emissions license, radioactive materials license, X-ray registration, shielding design, radiation safety policies and procedures with the DOH.

READ MORE: WORLD'S FIRST EVER FUSION POWER PLANT PLANNED IN MALAGA

Spokesperson Rachel Hansen says the lease approval allows Helion to start early-stage planning.

"This summer they're planning to construct an office building and start constructing some of the inital infrastructure, like septic and wells," Hansen said. "The lease agreement also includes preferential access for Chelan PUD to buy excess electricity that's produced from their generator on-site."

Energy Access and Utility Benefits

Managing Director of Generation and Transmission for the PUD Brett Bickford said the agreement offers multiple benefits for the utility and its customer-owners.

"In summary, the benefits to our customer owners would be a 100-megawatt substation and transmission infrastructure from the Rock Island Dam to the McKenzie substation, developed water wells, first right of refusal for energy on that 20 acres, as well as $600,000 in revenue from the ground lease and water supply," Bickford said at the commissioner's meeting Monday.

The PUD will be reimbursed for the cost of water rights and related expenses, plus a 10 percent administrative fee.

Environmental and Safety Oversight

During its community feedback phase, Helion addressed public concerns about the water use, the impact on the environment and wildlife, and public health and safety. At the meeting Monday, Helion State and Local Public Affairs Officer Tom Bugert thanked the PUD for their efforts.

"I'm mostly here with gratitude today, thank you for both all the work that has gone in on the staff time and then also all the counsel for helping us engage effectively with the community," Bugert said. "We would not be here and not have the conversations we would have had without your counsel, guidance, and lots and lots and lots of good questions."

In a presentation published by the PUD, Helion is addressing those concerns by complying with the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), create a wildlife habitat management plan, and conducting surveys, and implementing a health and safety monitoring strategy.

Water Use and Wastewater Management

The State Department of Health (DOH) will oversee Helion's air, water, soil, and waste management, and if Helion decommissions their plant, the DOH will monitor those requirements.

The PUD says Helion will use a maximum of 300 gallons per minute from wells, comparable to the usage of a large hospital. The PUD says there will be no waste water discharge to the Columbia River, and there will be impact studies on neighboring water systems.

Infrastructure and Grid Connection

The County will handle SEPA, Conditional Use, and Building Permits. The PUD handles the land, water, electricity supply, and transmission. A Transmission Interconnection Agereement between Helion and the PUD is currently in progress to link Helion's generator to the grid.

"We're also waiting on additional agreements with them for their power supply and transmission interconnection," Hansen said. "We need to set up the infrastructure for them to connect to the electrical grid, so the lease agreement is just one small step of a larger process, we're not there yet, but we're moving in the direction of Helion siting at our Rock Island Dam property."

Energy Production Timeline and Microsoft Deal

Helion hopes to break ground this summer, and begin generating energy with fusion power by 2028. Initially, energy Helion produces will be used to satisfy a power purchasing agreement with Microsoft to supply their data centers.