Comments on: Thought Solar Was Hard to Permit? Try Pumped Storage! http://cleantechnica.com/2011/04/18/thought-solar-was-hard-to-permit-try-pumped-storage/ Clean Tech News & Views: Solar Energy News. Wind Energy News. EV News. & More. Tue, 30 Dec 2014 05:03:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.1 By: Another Cheap Way to Store Solar and Wind Power – CleanTechnica: Cleantech innovation news and views http://cleantechnica.com/2011/04/18/thought-solar-was-hard-to-permit-try-pumped-storage/#comment-98501 Wed, 04 May 2011 21:42:52 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=25996#comment-98501 […] Thought Solar Was Hard to Permit? Try Pumped Storage! […]

]]> By: “Drill, Baby, Drill” Can Store Gigawatts of Renewable Energy – CleanTechnica: Cleantech innovation news and views http://cleantechnica.com/2011/04/18/thought-solar-was-hard-to-permit-try-pumped-storage/#comment-97027 Sat, 23 Apr 2011 20:40:10 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=25996#comment-97027 […] Thought Solar Was Hard to Permit? Try Pumped Storage! (cleantechnica.com) […]

]]> By: Anumakonda Jagadeesh http://cleantechnica.com/2011/04/18/thought-solar-was-hard-to-permit-try-pumped-storage/#comment-96658 Wed, 20 Apr 2011 01:11:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=25996#comment-96658 Good post Susan Kraemer. Pumped storage is an option for Renewables,
especially for wind, where many times the resource doesn’t match the utility electric loads, pumped storage may be a viable option to add value to the wind or other renewable energy resource.

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
Wind Energy Expert
E-mail: anumakonda.jagadeesh@gmail.com

]]> By: Susan Kraemer http://cleantechnica.com/2011/04/18/thought-solar-was-hard-to-permit-try-pumped-storage/#comment-96561 Tue, 19 Apr 2011 04:11:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=25996#comment-96561 Thanks for these points, great additions.

]]> By: Energy Bags Under the Sea to be Tested to Store Off-Shore Wind – CleanTechnica: Cleantech innovation news and views http://cleantechnica.com/2011/04/18/thought-solar-was-hard-to-permit-try-pumped-storage/#comment-96413 Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:30:17 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=25996#comment-96413 […] Thought Solar Was Hard to Permit? Try Pumped Storage! […]

]]> By: Anonymous http://cleantechnica.com/2011/04/18/thought-solar-was-hard-to-permit-try-pumped-storage/#comment-96395 Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:00:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=25996#comment-96395 An important topic. A few points, however:

(1) The article is a little misleading on challenges of licensing pumped storage because it is not reasonable to rely on the two projects that have notoriously been in that process for so long (Eagle Mountain and Lake Elsinore). These projects were conceived at a time when the market for pumped storage was poor, so part of their delay is attributable to market conditions rather than to the FERC licensing process. Also, these projects have some elements that make them more complex, such as Lake Elsinore’s dependency on a 35-mile transmission line through a national forest.

(2) The article omitted mention of the newly introduced Hydropower Improvement Act, which has bipartisan support, and one clause of which asks FERC to shorten the licensing process for low-impact process to two years.

(3) The concept of closed-loop pumped storage was actually brought to the market by Peak Power Corporation back in the early 1990’s. The firm filed with FERC for a dozen smaller, “modular” pumped storage projects that would not utilize natural waterways. But the market, again, wasn’t receptive at the time.

(4) There are many new closed-loop projects being introduced for purposes of integrating renewable resources, including twelve from Gridflex Energy, LLC. Each site is unique and each will be on its own timeline. With smart site selection, smaller, compact sites, and a faster-paced timeline, Gridflex believes that its projects could be online within 8 years, possibly sooner.

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