Nature and people first

Chilchinbeto
Pumped Storage Hydropower Project

Yá'át'ééh! Naaltsoos bik'eh hózhóóngo nihaa shiyázhí nishłį́ dóó yíláńgó tʼáá ałdoot'éego béésh baa hózhǫ́ǫgo saad náásgóó saad bee yizhchąʼiiʼ. Tʼáá Chilchinbeto Pumped Hydro Storage da'áłá'ííshjaałdii yéé ákótʼée ádinígíí dóó bee hazʼą́ jiní.

Denis Payre has been a successful entrepreneur with a global career spanning the past 35 years. Ten years ago, he decided to apply his experience developing ambitious projects to the fight against climate change. As a father of four, he feels a deep responsibility to future generations and is committed to helping leave them a healthier planet. He also believes that climate action should deliver a positive social impact. With these goals in mind, he founded Nature and People First.

Nature and People First’s story with the Navajo Nation began on the East Coast more than six years ago, at a gathering of passionate environmentalists searching for concrete solutions to address the growing impacts of climate change.

Our company, which develops nonpolluting energy-storage solutions, is called Nature and People First for a reason.

“Nature First” reflects our commitment to developing energy-storage projects with the lowest possible impact on the environment. PSH facilities can operate for at least 100 years and require only a relatively small amount of replacement water to offset evaporation. Unlike BESS facilities, PSH projects do not generate significant amounts of difficult-to-manage toxic waste every 10 years, nor do they pose the risk of explosive fires that are difficult to control.

PSH have also a significantly lower global warming potential, according to an NREL study published in August 2023. PSH also avoids the energy-security and supply-chain sovereignty concerns associated with BESS, including dependence on China, which is weaponizing its dominance of the supply chain through measures such as export licensing requirements for graphite, as well as dependence on countries that control much of the supply of critical raw materials such as cobalt, lithium, and nickel. According to the USGS, only four countries, including China, account for 80% of global lithium production. A “Lithium OPEC” could be a very powerful force. PSH provides grid-stability services, such as physical inertia and frequency response, that BESS can emulate but not provide in exactly the same way.

“People First” reflects our belief that clean-energy projects should be developed in partnership with the communities where economic development is most needed, creating meaningful local opportunities and long-term benefits. The energy transition offers a unique opportunity to lift underprivileged communities and bring prosperity to these regions.

From the beginning, our vision has been that the transition to clean energy should not be a choice between protecting nature and improving people’s lives. We believe it can and should do both.

During this gathering, Eric van Loon, one of the Navajo Nation’s strongest advocates on the East Coast, encouraged us to look beyond our initial plans and explore opportunities to develop our projects within the Navajo Nation.

Eric has been advocating for the Navajo people since the 1970s, first as a student and later as a lawyer. Throughout his career, he has worked to protect Navajo culture and rights, from bilingual education to the Nation’s interests in the energy sector.

What struck us most was Eric’s perspective on the connection between energy development, jobs, families, and the survival of Navajo culture. The Southwest is experiencing an extraordinary expansion of solar energy, yet too few of the resulting economic opportunities are reaching the Navajo Nation. At the same time, the closure of coal mines and fossil-fuel power plants has taken away thousands of well-paying jobs that once supported Navajo families.

We quickly realized that this is about much more than creating jobs. Too often, young Navajo graduates cannot find well-paying jobs within the Navajo Nation that match their skills and education. As a result, they must seek employment a 10- to 15-hour drive away and can return home only every other week or once a month. Children grow up seeing their parents only occasionally, families are separated, and communities are weakened.

In many cases, entire families move to distant cities across the United States. Their children then grow up with limited exposure to the Navajo language and culture. Over time, this continued exodus threatens the transmission of the Navajo language, traditions, and culture from one generation to the next.

The opportunity was therefore clear: if we can bring major clean-energy projects, and the jobs and economic opportunities that come with them, onto the Navajo Nation, we can help create a future in which Navajo people do not have to leave their homeland to build a future for their families. Instead, they can find meaningful work at home, remain connected to their communities, and contribute to the continued strength and survival of Navajo culture.

That conversation with Eric fundamentally shaped our decision to look seriously at opportunities within the Navajo Nation.

When news of the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) closure appeared in the media, Nature and People First saw Black Mesa in the background of a photo of NGS. Black Mesa appeared to be the ideal location for a clean energy pumped storage hydropower project (PSH) to provide many of the energy and local economic benefits of NGS while using much less land and producing clean energy instead of fossil fuel energy. Thus, Nature and People First visited the Navajo Nation and reached out to Navajo leadership and Chapters including Chilchinbeto Chapter of the Navajo Nation located south of Kayenta Arizona and at the base of Black Mesa. Chilchinbeto Chapter shared this vision of locating a clean energy pumped storage hydropower project on Black Mesa. Our partnership with the Chilchinbeto community began.

This website will:

  • Introduce the Chilchinbeto Pumped Storage Hydropower Project
  • Describe the pumped storage hydropower technology
  • Share the Chilchinbeto Chapter view of the project
  • Present the Nature and People First team

Pumped Storage Hydropower Technology

Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) technology is a type of utility-scale clean energy storage (battery) invented over 100 years ago to store electricity. The International Hydropower Association says PSH represents 94% of all energy storage solutions deployed globally. 43 PSH sites have been in operation in the USA since the 1970’s and 1980’s with a capacity of over 19 GW. The technology is ideal for storing renewable energy and is the low-cost and clean technology to store electricity for 10 hours or more when the sun doesn’t shine or when the wind doesn’t blow.

The infrastructure consists of two clean water reservoirs that can hold water separated by natural elevation change. The Chilchinbeto Pumped Storage Hydropower Project has about 1,500 feet of elevation change with one reservoir on Black Mesa and the other reservoir at the base of Black Mesa. The reservoirs are connected by a pipe, also referred to as a tunnel or penstock. When electricity is stored - typically in Arizona when the sun shines and electricity is more affordable - water is pumped from the reservoir at the base of the mesa to the reservoir at the top of the mesa. When electricity is needed, the PSH operates as a hydroelectric facility: water flows down the pipe from the upper reservoir, through a generator producing electricity, and then to the lower reservoir.

Overall
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The Chilchinbeto Pumped Hydropower Storage Project is a closed-loop project, so water moves from the base of the mesa to the top of the mesa and then back down to the base of the mesa repeatedly. After construction, the only water needed will be to replace water that evaporates. The project will be designed to minimize evaporation by installing floating solar panels or other methods. Importantly, once the project is constructed, the water infrastructure will be available for use at cost by the community for grazing, farming, or other needs.

In summary, pumped storage hydropower (PSH) is a proven technology and ideal to complement renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. PSH is a USA-made water-based battery that you can cycle over and over again with little to no degradation over decades. The Chilchinbeto Pumped Storage Hydropower Project will not only help the region’s transition to clean energy but also provide water infrastructure to the Navajo Nation and many jobs to the local community.

In parallel, the Chilchinbeto Chapter expressed interest in learning more about a potential project and offered opportunities for its leadership, members and grazing permittees to attend presentations. The Chilchinbeto Chapter first voted to start a dialogue with Nature and People First and then voted to support the project. The Chilchinbeto Chapter interest in the project is described below.

The project is expected to be located on about 400 to 500 acres on top of Black Mesa and about 400 to 500 acres on the base of Black Mesa. A reservoir covering 300 acres is roughly equivalent to half a square mile. As a reference, the Peabody mine complex on top of Black Mesa had a surface area of 95,000 acres, which means that the total PSH project is 100 times smaller than the Peabody mine complex and about 200 times smaller if considering only the reservoir on top of the Mesa, and PSH is clean water in a closed loop and not coal extraction.



INTRODUCING THE CHILCHINBETO PUMPED STORAGE HYDROPOWER PROJECT

Since the closure of the Navajo Generating Station was announced and Nature and People First recognized the opportunity for a pumped storage hydropower project, Nature and People First has met and made presentations to Navajo Nation leaders, Chapter leaders and members and people located in and near the project area. Among the Navajo Nation organizations with whom Nature and People have visited are:

  • Chilchinbeto Chapter of the Navajo Nation
  • Navajo Nation Council's Natural Resource and Development Committee
  • Navajo Tribal Utility Authority
  • Division of Economic Development
  • Division of Natural Resources


Regional utilities have expressed interest in potentially purchasing services from the project and requested that the project begin the permitting process by applying for a Federal Energy Commission (FERC) Preliminary Permit. Navajo Nation leadership were contacted for input and authorization to apply for a FERC Preliminary Permit, then Nature and People First applied for a permit on Black Mesa on a wide area to give as many options as possible for the Navajo Nation, Chapters and local people as well as flexibility for such considerations as geology, biodiversity and cultural artifacts. As a result, the surface area specified in the Preliminary Permit Application for the project:

The water for the project will be sourced from the extensive C Aquifer. The C Aquifer has a capacity of 400 million acre-feet (about 356 trillion gallons). This aquifer spans well beyond the Navajo Nation's borders, covering an area exceeding 27,000 square miles. It is not exclusive to the Navajo Nation, but the majority is under the Navajo Nation. The C Aquifer has an annual recharge of approximately 290,000 acre-feet per year (258 million gallons). The total annual pumping from the C Aquifer amounts to 140,000 acre-feet per year which is less than half of the yearly recharge. Only 1% of the annual pumping occurs within the Navajo Nation, while 99% of this annual pumping is conducted off the reservation primarily along the I-40 corridor between St. Johns and Winslow for industrial use, particularly by three CO2-emitting power plants, which account for the majority of pumping, followed by municipal demands in Flagstaff, Winslow, and Holbrook. About 60% of Flagstaff water comes from the C Aquifer, and 100% of Winslow and Holbrook water.

The Chilchinbeto Pumped Storage Hydropower project will necessitate 10,000 acre-feet of water to operate and will be filled over a two-year period. The pumping capacity will be 5,000 acre-feet per year, with a maximum of half of this capacity required thereafter to address evaporation, i.e., 2,500 acre-feet per year, or 1,500 acre-feet per year if the project limits evaporation (for example with floating solar panels). The project plans to allocate the excess pumping capacity to the Navajo Nation and the community at cost for grazing, farming, or other needs.

PSH yearly pumping to compensate for evaporation will account for about 1% of the total annual C Aquifer pumping and 0.5% of the annual C Aquifer recharge. The extracted water from the C Aquifer remains marginal in comparison to the aquifer's capacity, existing annual pumping, and its annual recharge. With evaporation and seepage mitigation and assuming no additional recharge, the total project demand in 100 years would represent a maximum of 0.048% of the total estimate of groundwater stored in the C Aquifer

Additionally, since “water use creates water rights”, the PSH project will help reinforce the Navajo Nation natural rights on the C Aquifer since more than 50% of the C Aquifer is under the Navajo Nation, but only 1% of the yearly C Aquifer pumping is for use on the Nation today.

More information on the C Aquifer

The Chilchinbeto Chapter

The Chilchinbeto Chapter has voted to support the Chilchinbeto Pumped Storage Hydropower Project to bring jobs and economic development to our Chapter and people. The project is anticipated to bring in directly or indirectly 1,000 jobs during construction and 100 permanent jobs. For Chapter members living on Black Mesa, the project will improve the road to the top of Black Mesa which is frequently impassable. During a recent winter, a snowmobile was rented to bring a Chilchinbeto member food and medicine. The project will also bring water on top of the Mesa that can help with grazing, farming, wildlife, or other needs for the community there.

The project plans to allocate the excess pumping capacity after the first two years of operation to all Chapter members for grazing, while also supporting biodiversity and providing water for wildlife during periods of drought, particularly on top of the Mesa. The Project will cover the operating expenses associated with this use. The Chapter members living on Black Mesa will no longer have to drive several hours several times a week ... and only when the road is available ... to haul water, which is exhausting, expensive, and highly polluting! The Project will also improve the existing access road to the site at the top of the mesa, making it accessible year-round and benefiting the community that lives in the area.

The project will also make water available for emergency wildfire response when needed, in a context where wildfires are expected to increase in frequency and intensity as a result of climate change. The water allocated for wildfire emergencies would allow the world’s most widely used firefighting helicopter to operate for seven hours a day for more than 150 days per year. Together with the water made available for wildlife whose survival is threatened during increasingly frequent and prolonged droughts, this application will help the Navajo Nation begin adapting to the impacts of climate change.



The project will make water available to all Chapter members. Once the project is complete, most of the project's water infrastructure will be available for the Chapter and the Nation. The Chapter members living on Black Mesa will no longer have to drive 2 hours ... and only when the road is available ... to get water. The direct benefits of the road and water will come from the use of only about 400 to 500 acres on the mesa and 400 to 500 acres at the base of the mesa - less than the grazing area for four cows. It is important to note that currently, no grazing occurs on top of the Mesa. Therefore, the 400 to 500 acres on top of the Mesa will not have any impact on grazing.

Importantly, the project follows the Diné teaching of ‘T’áá hwó’ ajít’éego’ self reliance or self determination. As President Nygren has said, “The Navajo Nation has always been an energy Nation, hands down. We don’t live next to Phoenix. We don’t live next to metropolitan areas. But what we do have is what we’ve always had, energy. Whether it’s oil and gas, whether it’s coal, solar, no other tribe can even match us.”

Former President Jonathan Nez and former Vice President Myron Lizer signed the Navajo Sunrise (Háyoolkáál) Proclamation. President Nez said the proclamation “creates a new economic vision for the Navajo people through healing the land, fostering clean energy development and providing leadership for the energy market.” He went on to say, “This is nothing new to us as indigenous peoples — being stewards of the land and using what Creator has given us in terms of natural resources.” “It’s time for our land to heal and become green again,” said Nez, "What we’re doing today is planting a seed for our future and for our younger generation”. Chilchinbeto Chapter has voted to support this type of clean energy hydro-electric storage project because it brings: jobs, water and economic development.

With the economic development, the project can bring benefits to the Nation, the Chapter, and the local people such as help with:

Water
Jobs
Roads
Agriculture
Broadband
Economic
Development
Grazing
Bioversity

Signed by

Paul Madson President
Thomas Bradley Vice President
Virginia White Secretary/Treasurer
Eugene Badonie Chapter Manager
Delbert Big Grazing Official
Chilchinbeto Chapter leadership support at the Navajo Economic Conference in June 2023.
Download Op-ed published by the Navajo Times on June 8th 2023 and signed by Paul Madson, the President of the Chilchinbeto Chapter
Download Op-ed published by the Navajo Times on July 20th 2023 and signed by Paul Madson, the President of the Chilchinbeto Chapter

Chilchinbeto Pumped Storage HydroPOWER (PSH) Project Development Team

The team has combined over 50 years of energy project development experience, sold services to over a dozen utilities and financed over $1 billion of projects. The team, led by Denis Payre, has the proven ability to turn ideas into thriving companies.

Denis Payre Proven Serial Entrepreneur
  • Co-founded & led software company Business Objects to a record NASDAQ IPO and $1 billion market cap – “Best Entrepreneur” in Business Week next to Steve Jobs and Steven Spielberg in 1996. Now a division of SAP
  • Co-founded & led e-logistic company Kiala to develop 7,000 locations and the sale of the company to UPS. Now deployed globally under the brand UPS Access Point
  • Co-founded and led the nonprofit organization CroissancePlus to improve the regulatory environment for innovative French companies. Successfully advocated for the creation of BSPCE, an equity incentive mechanism that enables companies to share value creation with all their employees and is now widely used by French innovative companies.
  • Founded PSH company Nature and People First:
    • Obtained the creation of a regulatory framework for PSH in France
    • Over $3.5 billion in the works and interest from four utilities
Peter Wallis Proven Ability to Win Utility Awards
  • Over 30 years energy experience for government, utilities and companies
  • Led mergers and acquisitions activities for Ameresco (NYSE: AMRC) as company grew from $30 million to >$500 million revenue/yr
  • Achieved over $1 billion in utility awards
  • Negotiated contracts with over a dozen utilities including PG&E, SCE, Xcel and Bonneville Power
Guillaume Faure Proven Ability to Develop and Finance Projects
  • 20 years of experience in energy and renewables
  • 10 years as CFO and board member of renewable IPPs developing, financing and operating onshore, floating offshore windfarms, PV farms and hydrogen production facilities
  • Financed over $1 billion of assets in project finance and corporate debt in France, Poland, Asia& Africa, closed the disposal of assets to utilities and infra funds
  • Engaged in and led co-development partnerships with such entities as Engie, TotalEnergies, GIG / Corio Generation (Macquarie Group), Caisse des Dépôts…
  • Certified European Financial Analyst
Eric Van Loon Top Lawyer with a Long-Term Relationship with the Navajo Nation
  • Nationally-recognized by Best Lawyers (top 5%) and National Law Journal
  • Massachusetts Governor Dukakis: Assistant Secretary Environmental Affairs, Under Secretary Economic Affairs
  • 1970s legal advocate for Navajo school children right to federal Title I/ JOM monies and to Navajo-language bilingual education (federal Legal Services program)
  • Mediated 2005 conditional agreement between Navajo, Hopi, Peabody Energy, Salt River Project and SCE on 25-year royalties for Black Mesa coal for Mojave GS (then 2006 California legislation banned out-of-state coal power)
  • Numerous tribal mediations including Cayuga (NY), Chickasaw-Choctaw (OK), Eastern Pequot (CT), Forest County Potawatomi (WI) and Hoopa-Yurok (CA)