525-MW Austrian Pumped Storage Plant Opened
Posted by Big Gav in energy storage, pumped hydro
Renewable Energy World reports on more energy storage being added to the European grid - 525-MW Austrian Pumped Storage Plant Opened.
The Kopswerk II pumped storage hydro plant in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg has been officially inaugurated. Capable of feeding up to 525 MW into the grid to serve peak load demand, or absorbing up to 450 MW of surplus energy from the grid, each of the plant's units consists of a Pelton turbine, a motor-generator, a starting converter, and a storage pump.
Kopswerk II uses separate machine sets with separate pumps and turbines rather than reversible pump-turbines and the machine sets are designed to operate with so-called short hydraulic circuits, where the storage pump and the turbine can operate simultaneously.