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Lubbock, Texas | the efficiency is a small loss on the pump back and the original pumping of the water is a small one time expense (or a few times for recharge
as someone else pointed out the money is in the peak VS off peak sales of electricity.....as we all know the wind usually blows when we don't need it (often at night in my area) and that is when electricity usage is usually lowest and wind is not there every day.....hydro power can be ramped up very very quickly to meet demand
short story on pumped hydro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-storage_hydroelectricity
here is a story (yes extreme) about a day when the West Texas wind all died suddenly and nearly took the grid down in the larger part of the state
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/02/28/no-breeze-the-...
and not in Texas there are times when wind power owners PAY THE GRID....YES PAY THEM to take power in off peak times because to get the tax credit the power must go somewhere.....this means power is either shed or baseline coal and natural gas plants shut down
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/texas-wind-farms-bring-free-...
so basically as a pumped hydro plant you can sometimes in the right area be in a position to get free and or even paid to take power to move the water uphill......then at peak times when the grid needs all it can get you get TOP dollar to send that water back down hill
this is one of the two issues with california power......lack of plants to provide PEAK power and the lack of political will and cash to build more plants just for peak use....california also has an issue with their grid as well in that they can't get all the power where it is needed even if it is available | |
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