More Compressed Air Storage in the News
Aug. 26th, 2008 12:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
webfarmerCouple of nifty items. From the NY Times, Bloomberg and CNN Money no less. Compressed air must be starting to show up on the media radar. Hurrah, if so.
Also a reference or two to an effort in 2001 to do a large compressed air storage system in Ohio. Wonder what happened there as it's not noted in the current media reports.
Air Storage is Explored for Energy - NY Times - 26 Aug 08
"The company, Public Service Enterprise Group Global LLC [NYSE: PEG], a subsidiary of P.S.E.G. Energy Holdings, is forming a joint venture with Michael Nakhamkin, a leader in the development of energy storage technology. The new company, Energy Storage and Power, will promote the use of compressed air storage technology to utilities and other power producers. (P.S.E.G. Global is the sister company of Public Service Electric and Gas Company, New Jersey’s largest power distributor, which has 2.2 million customers.)
The technology has been around for decades, though the only major plant in the United States opened in Alabama in 1991. Another plant was built in Germany in the 1970s. But compressed air storage is getting a fresh look because so many windmills have been built across the country in recent years, and energy producers are increasingly looking for ways to avoid building power plants that rely on expensive oil and natural gas.
Dr. Nakhamkin, who worked on the plant in Alabama, has developed new technology that reduces the startup time for generators powered by compressed air and cuts the amount of emissions they produce. The new facilities would also use more standard components, which would make the plants cheaper to build, depending on how much mining is required to create an underground reservoir."
"If a storage plant were to be built in New Jersey, it would most likely use above-ground tanks or abandoned gas pipelines because so much of the state is on solid rock, which would be expensive to excavate, Mr. Byrd said."
Wind Power Boosted by Utility, Storage Invention - Bloomberg - 26 Aug 08
"The technology, which works like a battery, might widen use of renewable-energy plants because they could bank surplus power made when sunlight or wind is exceptionally strong. The venture, Energy Storage & Power LLC, will improve compressed-air technology to make low-polluting generation more efficient.
'Anything that does commercial-scale energy storage is huge,' said John Gardner, a professor of mechanical engineering at Boise State University, who is not involved in the venture, in an interview yesterday. 'It can completely change the economic prospects of a wind farm.'"
"The 110-megawatt power plant in McIntosh, Alabama, that opened in 1991 uses natural gas-powered compressors to store air that is later used to power a generator turbine. A newer design will make the system cleaner and more efficient, he said.
'Technologically, this is not rocket science,' said Arshad Mansoor, a vice president at the Palo Alto, California- based Electric Power Research Institute, a consultant on air- storage projects. 'We are looking at things that could be made to scale in a cost-effective way and could be deployed in the next five to 10 years.'
About three quarters of the U.S. has geologic formations that could be used for compressed air storage, Mansoor said. There could be 20 to 50 power plants producing 100 to 300 megawatts each that use the technology by 2020, he said."
New Efforts to Store Wind Power - CNN Money - 26 Aug 08
"A New Jersey company said Tuesday it has joined with Michael Nakhamkin, one of the top thinkers in energy storage, to develop new ways to trap wind-generated power in underground reservoirs.
Nakhamkin has helped develop technology that pulls excess energy off the power grid _ usually at night _ to run compressors that pump air into sealed, underground caverns that previously held oil, salt or natural gas."
"The technology has been used at an Alabama plant since the early 1990s, but the latest version allows utilities to quickly generate power _ at different levels _ when needed, and to arbitrate between peak and off-peak hours."
Compressed Air Energy Storage: Compressed Air Energy Storage Adapts Proven Technology to Address Market Opportunities - Power Engineering - April 2001
"Although several niche CAES facilities are operational, large-scale commercial success has not yet been achieved. CAES Development Company (CDC) intends to change this situation with the facility it is developing in Norton, Ohio. CDC develops CAES power-generating plants. CDC has worked with Alstom Power to modify existing proven technology to combine the best features of natural gas and coal-fired power generation to yield cost-competitive, efficiently produced electricity.
CDC is owned by its management team and by private equity funds managed by Haddington Ventures L.L.C. Haddington Ventures' limited partners include affiliates of J.P. Morgan Partners (a J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. affiliate), Vectren Ventures (an affiliate of Indiana Gas and SIGECO), Millenium Energy Holdings (a Tucson Electric affiliate), Travelers Insurance Company, and Prudential Insurance Company.
CDC's initial project in Ohio is well-advanced in the permitting of the 2,700 MW facility. When completed, Norton Energy Storage (NES) will be the largest CAES facility in the world.
The combination of air compression, power generation and subsurface technologies makes this a world-class project. NES will use low-cost, off-peak electricity from underutilized baseload power plants to compress air and inject it into an underground storage reservoir at night. During the day, when electricity demand increases, NES will withdraw the compressed air and combine it with natural gas to fuel up to nine 300 MW intermediate load turbines.
Energy Mine: A Defunct Ohio Mine Is Turned Into An Energy Storehouse - Osgood File (CBS Radio network) - 06 Dec 01
"Scientists from Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico are teaming up with an energy company in Norton, Ohio to transform an abandoned limestone mine into an energy-storage and delivery plant. During off-peak hours, when energy is significantly cheaper, they will use compressors to pump air into the mine to build up and store a high-pressure air reservoir.
During periods of high power demand, the compressed air will be bled out through modified turbines to produce electricity. An agreement with the city of Norton already in place, the local energy company has purchased the mine and anticipates the project to be operational within two years.
While two other compressed-air energy-storage facilities already exist, one in Alabama and the other in Germany, CAES Norton Energy is the first to use a limestone mine. According to Sandia National Laboratory geologist Steve Bauer, the lead researcher on the project, the Norton limestone mine is one of the most impressive rock formations he has ever seen. Bauer and his team tested the limestone’s permeability and integrity to confirm the rock could withstand pressure up to 1,600 pounds per square inch."
Also a reference or two to an effort in 2001 to do a large compressed air storage system in Ohio. Wonder what happened there as it's not noted in the current media reports.
Air Storage is Explored for Energy - NY Times - 26 Aug 08
"The company, Public Service Enterprise Group Global LLC [NYSE: PEG], a subsidiary of P.S.E.G. Energy Holdings, is forming a joint venture with Michael Nakhamkin, a leader in the development of energy storage technology. The new company, Energy Storage and Power, will promote the use of compressed air storage technology to utilities and other power producers. (P.S.E.G. Global is the sister company of Public Service Electric and Gas Company, New Jersey’s largest power distributor, which has 2.2 million customers.)
The technology has been around for decades, though the only major plant in the United States opened in Alabama in 1991. Another plant was built in Germany in the 1970s. But compressed air storage is getting a fresh look because so many windmills have been built across the country in recent years, and energy producers are increasingly looking for ways to avoid building power plants that rely on expensive oil and natural gas.
Dr. Nakhamkin, who worked on the plant in Alabama, has developed new technology that reduces the startup time for generators powered by compressed air and cuts the amount of emissions they produce. The new facilities would also use more standard components, which would make the plants cheaper to build, depending on how much mining is required to create an underground reservoir."
"If a storage plant were to be built in New Jersey, it would most likely use above-ground tanks or abandoned gas pipelines because so much of the state is on solid rock, which would be expensive to excavate, Mr. Byrd said."
Wind Power Boosted by Utility, Storage Invention - Bloomberg - 26 Aug 08
"The technology, which works like a battery, might widen use of renewable-energy plants because they could bank surplus power made when sunlight or wind is exceptionally strong. The venture, Energy Storage & Power LLC, will improve compressed-air technology to make low-polluting generation more efficient.
'Anything that does commercial-scale energy storage is huge,' said John Gardner, a professor of mechanical engineering at Boise State University, who is not involved in the venture, in an interview yesterday. 'It can completely change the economic prospects of a wind farm.'"
"The 110-megawatt power plant in McIntosh, Alabama, that opened in 1991 uses natural gas-powered compressors to store air that is later used to power a generator turbine. A newer design will make the system cleaner and more efficient, he said.
'Technologically, this is not rocket science,' said Arshad Mansoor, a vice president at the Palo Alto, California- based Electric Power Research Institute, a consultant on air- storage projects. 'We are looking at things that could be made to scale in a cost-effective way and could be deployed in the next five to 10 years.'
About three quarters of the U.S. has geologic formations that could be used for compressed air storage, Mansoor said. There could be 20 to 50 power plants producing 100 to 300 megawatts each that use the technology by 2020, he said."
New Efforts to Store Wind Power - CNN Money - 26 Aug 08
"A New Jersey company said Tuesday it has joined with Michael Nakhamkin, one of the top thinkers in energy storage, to develop new ways to trap wind-generated power in underground reservoirs.
Nakhamkin has helped develop technology that pulls excess energy off the power grid _ usually at night _ to run compressors that pump air into sealed, underground caverns that previously held oil, salt or natural gas."
"The technology has been used at an Alabama plant since the early 1990s, but the latest version allows utilities to quickly generate power _ at different levels _ when needed, and to arbitrate between peak and off-peak hours."
Compressed Air Energy Storage: Compressed Air Energy Storage Adapts Proven Technology to Address Market Opportunities - Power Engineering - April 2001
"Although several niche CAES facilities are operational, large-scale commercial success has not yet been achieved. CAES Development Company (CDC) intends to change this situation with the facility it is developing in Norton, Ohio. CDC develops CAES power-generating plants. CDC has worked with Alstom Power to modify existing proven technology to combine the best features of natural gas and coal-fired power generation to yield cost-competitive, efficiently produced electricity.
CDC is owned by its management team and by private equity funds managed by Haddington Ventures L.L.C. Haddington Ventures' limited partners include affiliates of J.P. Morgan Partners (a J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. affiliate), Vectren Ventures (an affiliate of Indiana Gas and SIGECO), Millenium Energy Holdings (a Tucson Electric affiliate), Travelers Insurance Company, and Prudential Insurance Company.
CDC's initial project in Ohio is well-advanced in the permitting of the 2,700 MW facility. When completed, Norton Energy Storage (NES) will be the largest CAES facility in the world.
The combination of air compression, power generation and subsurface technologies makes this a world-class project. NES will use low-cost, off-peak electricity from underutilized baseload power plants to compress air and inject it into an underground storage reservoir at night. During the day, when electricity demand increases, NES will withdraw the compressed air and combine it with natural gas to fuel up to nine 300 MW intermediate load turbines.
Energy Mine: A Defunct Ohio Mine Is Turned Into An Energy Storehouse - Osgood File (CBS Radio network) - 06 Dec 01
"Scientists from Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico are teaming up with an energy company in Norton, Ohio to transform an abandoned limestone mine into an energy-storage and delivery plant. During off-peak hours, when energy is significantly cheaper, they will use compressors to pump air into the mine to build up and store a high-pressure air reservoir.
During periods of high power demand, the compressed air will be bled out through modified turbines to produce electricity. An agreement with the city of Norton already in place, the local energy company has purchased the mine and anticipates the project to be operational within two years.
While two other compressed-air energy-storage facilities already exist, one in Alabama and the other in Germany, CAES Norton Energy is the first to use a limestone mine. According to Sandia National Laboratory geologist Steve Bauer, the lead researcher on the project, the Norton limestone mine is one of the most impressive rock formations he has ever seen. Bauer and his team tested the limestone’s permeability and integrity to confirm the rock could withstand pressure up to 1,600 pounds per square inch."
