Dive Summary:
- The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has wrapped a $790,000 study that developed two ways to harness compressed air technology to store wind energy underground, the national lab said Monday.
- The Bonneville Power Administration is now working with the lab to explore the technology’s business potential.
- “Wind power tends to be most plentiful at night, when demand is at the lowest. Storing wind power for use during the day would help utilities meet their customers’ demand and manage their grids, which run smoothly when there is a balance of supply and demand,” GigaOm reported.
From the article:
“Many U.S. utilities or power producers have done preliminary studies or even pilot projects to check out different types of energy storage technologies, including various types of batteries. Often their regulators require them to gradually increase the amount of renewable energy they supply to their customers. Wind and solar have been popular choices, but they don’t generate a steady supply of electricity around the clock. Here is where energy storage comes in handy to help utilities manage their supply and demand.”