An Integrated Energy Storage System
Wind speed is unpredictable and variable such that the power output from wind turbines often does not coincide with demands from the national grid. In the UK, constraint payments are made to wind farm owners when the turbines are shut down because of lack of demand for their power. Clearly the wind farm owner would wish to sell any energy generated whatever the demand and also be able to deliver higher power if necessary on demand. Here a novel wind–tidal integrated storage power generation system is described that addresses these issues.
By Mike Lewis, RGL Associates, UK
Matching Output to Demand
There is increasing interest in storage devices that can buffer energy during times when the wind is blowing and there is little demand and allow that energy to be released when demand is present. By contrast, tidal energy is predictable throughout the year but still has the disadvantage that differential heads across water turbines that give the highest power outputs may not be in phase with demand. Storage devices are essentially energy supply shifters.
