The most troublesome problem with wind or solar power systems is the weather. For the energy these systems create there needs to be a way to store the excess energy and then be able to deliver that excess energy precisely when it is needed.
One innovative way to store this energy is to use what is called a “water battery.” Excess energy from say solar panels or wind turbines is used to pump water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir. When weather or demand requires energy, water from the upper reservoir flows through turbines to the lower reservoir which drives electric generators.
Water batteries have been around for quite some time, however new variable speed turbines allow almost instantaneous delivery of electric power.
Such a system has recently come online in Switzerland. Named “Nant de Drance,” most of the system is underground. It has taken 14 years and nearly 2 billion dollars, however it is expected to a provide a stable source of “green” energy for much of Europe. Just to give the magnitude of the this “water battery”, it is equivalent to 400,000 electric car batteries. And the drop from the upper to the lower reservoir is higher than the Eiffel Tower.
I invite you to read the entire CNN story which contains some staggering photos, in particular the turbine room which is 2 football fields long. All underground. That’s a big room by anyone’s standards. – Dr. Tom
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