A WIND STORAGE SOLUTION

NPPD plans to store compressed air underground for energy use
Algis J. Laukaitis, October 14, 2011 (Lincoln Journal Star)

"The Nebraska Public Power District…[t]he state's largest electric utility…is embarking on an innovative energy project to store compressed air in a geological formation 3,000 feet below ground and use the same pressurized air later to turn a turbine to produce power.

"There are only two other Compressed Air Energy Storage [CAES] facilities in the world, one built in Huntorf, Germany, in 1978, and the other built in 1991 in McIntosh, Ala…Both use underground caverns that were formed from salt mining operations…NPPD…[will] buy the rights to store compressed air in the Dakota Sandstone formation near Big Springs in Deuel County."

(from the Lincoln Journal Star - click to enlarge)

"Dakota Sandstone covers parts of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin…[NPPD will buy] the rights to store compressed air in an existing natural gas storage facility that covers more than 40,000 acres…owned by Kebrh Operating, an individual natural gas producer…[The formation] was mined for natural gas during the 1950s and '60s until supplies were exhausted…[It was then used] to store natural gas…Testing will not begin for three to five years.

"…[In CAES,] compressed air is created by a compressor that works on the same principle as those found in gas stations. NPPD said power for the compressor will come from coal, nuclear, wind and other resources…The air then is pumped into the geological formation through injection wells and can be stored for weeks and even months… [E]nergy storage projects are important as renewable energy generation [such as wind power] increases in Nebraska…"