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Electricity Facts
Pumped Storage—The Basics Pumped storage is unique. While it is a form of pure hydropower that generates clean, cheap and dispatchable (on-demand) electricity, pumped storage also performs a second crucial function by converting plentiful, inexpensive off-peak electricity into scarce, more valuable on-peak electricity. Pumped storage works like a large storage battery. During periods of low demand, water is pumped from a lower reservoir to the reservoir built at the top. It takes several hours to fill the upper reservoir. When demand is high, water is released via a tunnel connecting the two reservoirs to drive generators in the underground power plant. A classic example of pumped storage is the Tennessee Valley Authorities’ (TVA’s) Raccoon Mountain 1,600 MW facility. Raccoon Mountain has been in operation since 1978.
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