THINKING BIG:COMPRESSED AIR AND PUMPED HYDRO MOVE IN ON NEW GROUND

摘要

They say that everything comes back into fashion if you wait long enough, and compressed air energy storage (CAES) may be a case in point. Basic CAES technology uses the energy to be stored to drive air compressors. The air is stored underground until required and then released to drive a turbine that operates on less than 40% of the gas normally required due to its pre-compressed air input. A commercial 290 MW CAES plant began operating in Huntorf, Germany, in 1978. A second was set up in Alabama in the US in 1991. And that appeared to be it, until the possibility of managing variable generation sparked new interest.