A compressed air storage project now in the works is the Iowa Stored Energy Park. The facility will combine the power generation of several wind turbines and use underground storage to make wind power "dispatchable," or available on demand.
When demand for electricity is lowest, in the middle of the night, the turbines will compress air and pump it underground in either salt domes or other geological spaces. During times of peak energy demand, such as the afternoon, the air can be released to help power a natural gas turbine generator, using half as much gas. The facility, which is projected to store several days' worth of electricity, is set to be online in 2011.
Photo by Iowa Stored Energy Park
Caption by Martin LaMonica
