A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potential energy of water, pumped from a lower elevation reservoir to a higher elevation. Low-cost surplus off-peak electric power is typically used to run the pumps. During periods of high electrical demand, the stored water is released through turbines to produce electric power. Although the losses of the pumping process make the plant a net consumer of energy overall, the system increases revenue by selling more electricity during periods of peak demand, when electricity prices are highest. If the upper lake collects significant rainfall or is fed by a river then the plant may be a net energy producer in the manner of a traditional hydroelectric plant.
The Dinorwig Power Station, known locally as Electric Mountain, or Mynydd Gwefru, is a pumped-storage hydroelectric scheme, near Dinorwig, Llanberis in Snowdonia national park in Gwynedd, Wales, United Kingdom. The scheme can supply a maximum power of 1,728-megawatt (2,317,000 hp) and has a storage capacity of around 9.1 GWh (33 TJ).
An underground power station is a type of hydroelectric power station constructed by excavating the major components from rock, rather than the more common surface-based construction methods.
The Taum Sauk pumped storage plant is a power station in the St. Francois mountain region of Missouri, United States about 90 miles (140 km) south of St. Louis near Lesterville, Missouri, in Reynolds County. It is operated by Ameren Missouri.
Raccoon Mountain Pumped-Storage Plant is a pumped-storage hydroelectric underground power station in Marion County, just west of Chattanooga in the U.S. state of Tennessee.
Courtright Reservoir is a reservoir in Fresno County, California. The reservoir is at an elevation of 8,170 feet in the Sierra National Forest, in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, bordering the John Muir Wilderness.
The Blenheim–Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Station is a pumped-storage hydroelectricity plant in the Catskill Mountains of New York State. The plant is part of the New York Power Authority, and can generate over 1,100 megawatts (1,500,000 hp) of electricity, all of which is sent to New York City. It is used daily to cover peak demand. There are two reservoirs that are involved in the project, both with a capacity of 5 billion US gallons (19,000,000 m3); one at the foot of Brown Mountain in the Schoharie Valley, and another one at the top of the mountain. The power station has an accumulated capacity of about 12,000 megawatt-hours (43,000 GJ) after storing up to 17,000 megawatt-hours (61,000 GJ).
The Sestrimo Hydro Power Plant is an active hydro power project in the eastern Rila mountains near Sestrimo village, Bulgaria. Water is supplied by the Belmeken Dam to three turbines with a nominal output of around 80 MW which will deliver up to 240 MW of power. It is part of the Belmeken-Chaira-Sestrimo Hydropower Cascade. The same reservoir is used for pumped storage with the Chaira Hydro Power Plant.
The Belmeken Hydro Power Plant is an active pumped storage hydro power project in the eastern Rila mountains, Bulgaria. It receives its water from the Belmeken Reservoir and has 5 individual turbines with a nominal output of around 75 megawatts (101,000 hp) which can deliver up to 375 megawatts (503,000 hp) of power, as well as 2 pumps with an installed capacity of 104 MW. It is part of the Belmeken-Chaira-Sestrimo Hydropower Cascade.
The Chaira Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant was built in the Rila mountains, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of Bulgaria's capital city, Sofia. Chaira has generating capacity of 864 megawatts (1,159,000 hp) and a pumping capacity of 788 megawatts (1,057,000 hp). The power plant is equipped with four reversible Francis pump-turbines, each rated at 216 megawatts (290,000 hp) in the generating mode, and 197 megawatts (264,000 hp) in pumping mode. Units 1 and 2 have been in operation since 1995, and at that time Chaira was the largest pumped-storage plant in southeast Europe with the highest head in the world for a single-stage pump turbine. Units 3 and 4 came online in 1999. The pump-turbines and motor-generators were supplied by Toshiba, and three of them were manufactured under Japanese supervision in Bulgaria. The upper basin for Chaira is formed by the Belmeken Dam which connects to the pumped storage plant by two headrace tunnels with a diameter of 4.2 metres (14 ft) and two penstocks with diameter 4.4 metres (14 ft), reducing to 4.2 metres (14 ft). Outflow from the Belmeken reservoir supplies the Sestrimo Hydro Power Plant
Smith Mountain Dam is a concrete arch dam located on the Roanoke River in Virginia, creating Smith Mountain Lake. The dam was built by Appalachian Power between 1960 and 1963 for the purposes of pumped-storage hydroelectricity. The dam created Smith Mountain Lake as its reservoir, where recreation and real estate have become popular.
The Siah Bisheh Pumped Storage Power Plant, also spelled Siyāhbisheh and Siah Bishe, is located in the Alborz Mountain range near the village of Siah Bisheh and 48 km (30 mi) south of Chalus in Mazandaran Province, Iran. The power plant uses the pumped-storage hydroelectric method to generate electricity during periods of high energy demand, making it a peaking power plant, intended to fulfill peak electricity demand in Tehran 60 km (37 mi) to the south. When complete it will have an installed generating capacity of 1,040 megawatts (1,390,000 hp) and a pumping capacity of 940 megawatts (1,260,000 hp). Planning for the project began in the 1970s and construction began in 1985. It was delayed from 1992 until 2001 and the first generator went online in May 2013. The remaining generators were commissioned by 1 September 2015. The power plant is the first pumped-storage type in Iran and will also use the country's first concrete-face rock-fill dam – two of them.
India is 5th globally for installed hydroelectric power capacity. As of 31 March 2020, India's installed utility-scale hydroelectric capacity was 46,000 MW, or 12.3% of its total utility power generation capacity. Additional smaller hydroelectric power units with a total capacity of 4,683 MW have been installed. India's hydroelectric power potential is estimated at 148,700 MW at 60% load factor. In the fiscal year 2019–20, the total hydroelectric power generated in India was 156 TWh with an average capacity factor of 38.71%.
Lumot Lake, also known as Sierra Lake, is a man-made water reservoir located in the towns of Cavinti and Lumban of Laguna province, in the Sierra Madre Mountains of the Philippines. The lake was created when Lumot Dam, an embankment dam, was constructed damming the Lumot River, creating an auxiliary water reservoir for Lake Caliraya as part of the Kalayaan Pumped-Storage Hydroelectric Plant. The waters between the two lakes are conveyed by a 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) penstock.
Castaic Power Plant, also known as the Castaic Pumped-Storage Plant, is a seven unit pumped-storage hydroelectric plant, operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which provides peak load power from the falling water on the West Branch of the California State Aqueduct. It is a cooperative venture between the LADWP and the Department of Water Resources of the State of California. An agreement between the two organizations was signed on September 2, 1966, for construction of the project.
The Helms Pumped Storage Plant is located 50 mi (80 km) east of Fresno, California in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range's Sierra National Forest. It is a power station that uses Helms Creek canyon on the North Fork of the Kings River for off-river water storage and the pumped-storage hydroelectric method to generate electricity. After being planned in the early 1970s, construction on the plant began in June 1977 and commercial operations began on 30 June 1984. It has an installed capacity of 1,212 MW and is owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
The Rocky Mountain Hydroelectric Plant is a pumped-storage power plant located 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Rome in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is named after Rock Mountain on top of which the plant's upper reservoir is located. Construction on the plant began in 1977 and it was commissioned in 1995. After upgrades were completed in 2011, the plant has an installed capacity of 1,095 megawatts (1,468,000 hp). It is owned by both Oglethorpe Power and Georgia Power which have 75 percent and 25 percent stakes, respectively.
The Vianden Pumped Storage Plant is located just north of Vianden in Diekirch District, Luxembourg. The power plant uses the pumped-storage hydroelectric method to generate electricity and serves as a peaking power plant. Its lower reservoir is located on the Our River, bordering Germany, and the upper is elevated above on the nearby Saint Nicholas Mountain. Construction on the plant began in 1959 and the first pump-generators were commissioned in 1962. A tenth pump-generator was installed in 1976 bringing the plant's installed generating capacity to 1,096 megawatts (1,470,000 hp). The plant generates an average of 1,650 gigawatt-hours (5,900 TJ) annually but of course consumes even more. Generally the efficiency of this energy storage method is around 70-80%. The plant is owned by Société électrique de l'Our and RWE. Construction on an eleventh pump-generator began in 2010 and it is expected to be commissioned in 2013, which will bring the plant's installed capacity to 1,296 megawatts (1,738,000 hp).
