Credit: PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) will be using compressed air to store wind power. The compressed air will be housed in an underground storage facility so that it can continue to deliver power for up to 10 hours during peak periods when the grid is drawing more than the turbines can produce.
There are currently two such facilities in operation, one in Alabama and one in Germany. The technique is getting lots of attention due to its cheapness relative to other techniques of storage. The technique is called Compressed Air Energy Storage, or CAES. On its company blog, PG&E quoted a recent Princeton University study as saying ”CAES appears to have many of the characteristics necessary to transform wind into a mainstay of global electricity generation.”
More on PG&E’s decision to adopt CAES on CNET.
Tags: alternative energy, CAES, compressed air energy storage, Pacific Gas and Electric, wind energy
Comments (2)
Yes, I knew the Germany one. This system is a new test for combining the new energies.
I think it will be a bright future but we still need some time to test this.
Why wouldn’t you just spemd the money on geothermal. It is so much more practical.