Ski Lifts Help Open $25 Billion Market for Storing Power

[dipsydoodle]

Technology developers are shuttling between caves and mountaintops to build a market for utilities set to attract $25 billion in annual investment within a decade.

To store surplus electricity from power plants, they’re trying to squeeze air into salt mines and run empty trains up hills, testing how to harness the energy released when the air bursts out and the cars roll back down. Trials are under way at companies from Germany’s Siemens AG (SIE) and RWE AG (RWE) to General Electric Co. (GE) and a startup backed by billionaire Bill Gates, which is experimenting with the momentum of ski lifts.

“Electricity is the only commodity in the world that isn’t really stored,” said Prescott Logan, who heads GE’s storage business in Schenectady, New York, where last month it opened a $100 million plant to make batteries for utilities. When storage becomes cheap and massive, “the impact will be huge.”

The $260 billion renewables industry needs storage so power companies can absorb surges from solar and wind farms from Texas to Mongolia. The devices will be key for plans by Germany to shift Europe’s biggest electricity market from atomic energy, said Gil Forer, Ernst & Young LLP’s clean-tech head in New York.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-27/ski-lifts-help-open-25-billion-market-for-storing-power-energy.html

[Sanddancer]

1. Have we not done something like this before?

Many many years ago in the UK they built a large reservoir up the side of a Welsh mountain where they would pump water during low load periods on the grid. The idea was that when demand spiked (half time during England v Germany footbal game when everyone goes and turns the leccy kettle on and then goes to the loo) the water would be released through turbines to supply very close to instant power. Why make this problem of storing latent electrical power more difficult than it needs to be? No dount the lack of water in some places may be an issue.

[Blue_Tires]

2. welcome to the site!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. The article goes into that later.

Water Uphill

While pumping water up a hill has aided in power generation for more than 100 years, the technology is limited to mountainous terrain. Environmentalists have criticized those sites for being harmful to local wildlife, prompting developers to look for alternatives that can be used anywhere anytime.

And for Blue Tires, who has already commented, one such pumped storage facility is in Bath County, Virginia.

Bath County Pumped Storage Station

Method of operation

Water is released from the upper reservoir during periods of high demand and is used to generate electricity. What makes this different from other hydroelectric dams is that during times of low demand, power is taken from coal, nuclear, and other power plants and is used to pump water from the lower to the upper reservoir. Although this plant uses more power than it generates, it allows these other plants to operate at close to peak efficiency for an overall cost savings. Back Creek and Little Back Creek, the water sources used to create the reservoirs, have a relatively small flow rate. However, since water is pumped between the reservoirs equally, the only water taken from these creeks now that the reservoirs are full is to replace the water lost to evaporation. During operation, the water level fluctuates by over 105 feet (30 m) in the 265-acre (110 ha) upper reservoir and 60 feet (20 m) feet in the 555-acre (220 ha) lower reservoir.

When generating power, the water flow can be as much as 13.5 million US gallons (51,000 m³) per minute (850 m³/sec). When storing power, the flow can be as much as 12.7 million US gallons (48,000 m³) per minute (800 m³/sec).

The ski lift thing strikes me as weird. There have to be so many frictional losses in that method. I don't see the advantage.

[thelordofhell]

4. Bob's Your Uncle!!!

Welcome to DU Sanddancer!!

[Mopar151]

5. Northfield Mountain project

http://www.firstlightpower.com/generation/north.asp

A friend of mine worked on this project as an equipment mechanic. That much tunnel work is a dangerous thing - I remember him telling me about leaving the on-site ambulance idling all night during the cold part of the winter, and having to be sure it was gassed up halfway through the shift......