For Base-Load Wind Cheaper than Fossil Fuels: CAES
As PG&E ramps up renewable power in response to the California RPS requirement that it get 33% of its electricity from renewables by 2020; it has been exploring ways to add that much renewable power to the grid while smoothing out the ups and downs of wind energy, which often peaks at night.
The utility needs a way to turn sometimes-too-much wind into anytime-always-there electricity.
The solution? Simple tech. Underground compressed air.
With compressed air energy storage; air is compressed and then pumped in natural underground reservoirs. The air is released later and converted into electricity. With enough storage, even fickle wind could actually supply base-load power.
So PG&E has applied for DOE smart grid stimulus funding under The Recovery Act; to build a compressed air energy storage project with output capacity of 300 megawatts. They are applying for $25 million.
By comparison, building a plant to burn fossil fuels would cost around $850 million for the same 300 megawatts of fossil energy.
