[미국] CA, 양수발전소 프로젝트 추진

세계적인 지질공학, 수자원, 생태 과학, 엔지니어링 회사인 GEI Consultanats는 Eagle Crest Energy Company가 남부 캘리포니아 이글산의 양수발전소 프로젝트를 위해 연방 에너지 규제위원회로부터 허가를 받았다고 발표했다. 연방 에너지 규제위원회는 16500MW의 수용량은 갖는 24개의 전체 양수발전 장치의 설치, 운영 건설을 포함하는 프로젝트의 권한을 부여했다.

프로젝트는 에너지저장 시설로써 운영되고 물은 저지대의 급수장에 저장되고 낮은 전력 수요동안 고지대의 급수장으로 퍼 올려지며 고지대의 물은 에너지가 전력수요를 충족할 때까지 유지하다가 동력실을 통해 분출을 통해 첨두시 전력량을 발생한 계획이다. 비활성화된 이글산의 광산 부지에서 위치한 프로젝트는 호수나 하천과 연결되지 않으며 피드백 기구로 자동 조정된다. 산의 채취장은 10년 동안 사용되지 않았으며 물 저장 시설로 개선될 예정이다.

GEI Consultants, Inc., a global geotechnical, environmental, water resources, and ecological science and engineering firm, announced that client Eagle Crest Energy Company has received its license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for its Eagle Mountain Hydroelectric Pumped Storage project in Southern California. FERC has authorized a total of 24 pumped storage projects that are constructed and in operation, with a total installed capacity of approximately 16,500 megawatts. Most of these projects were authorized more than 30 years ago.

The project will operate as an energy storage facility -- water will be stored in a lower elevation reservoir and then pumped to a higher elevation reservoir during periods of low electrical demand. Water in the upper reservoir will be held until energy is needed to meet electrical demand, then it is released through a powerhouse where it will generate more valuable on-peak energy. The project is closed-loop, in that there is no connection to any existing lake or river. The project is located on the site of the inactive Eagle Mountain mine in Riverside County, Calif., near the town of Desert Center. The pits at the mine have been unused for decades and will be modified to become water storage reservoirs.

The Eagle Mountain Pumped Storage Project will serve as an integral component of California's renewable energy policies and its goals for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. It will play a major role in satisfying peak energy demands, integration of renewable energy resources located in the California desert, and management of the regional transmission grid so that on-demand reliable energy can be delivered throughout Southern California. The project, once completed, will provide up to 1,300 megawatts (MW) of energy for peak demand periods, which would make it the 15th largest pumped storage project in the world and the 5th largest in the United States.

Under contract to and working closely with Eagle Crest Energy, GEI Consultants led the consultant team responsible for licensing efforts, which began in 2007. GEI's responsibilities included preparation of the License Application including the Supporting Design Report, Environmental Assessment, Project Schedule, and other exhibits. GEI also assisted the client with stakeholder consultation; identification of potential sources of water supply; development of project configuration; technical analyses for the upper reservoir dams, water conducting tunnels, and underground powerhouse; conceptual designs for project water supply; reservoir seepage control and monitoring measures; drainage and flood management as well as access roads and tunnels; and the reservoirs' water quality management system.

[출처 = Water World / 2014년 7월 23일]