 |
|||||||||||||
|
Hydropower Projects
Pumped-storage hydropower is a unique type of hydroelectric generation, where pumped water, rather than natural stream flow, provides the source of energy. Pumped storage harnesses large quantities of surplus off peak power and makes it available during peak demand. The off peak power is stored in the form of potential energy by pumping water uphill. It is then reissued to the grid as needed by capturing the reverse flow of the water back downhill (see illustration below).
Targeting two major production bottlenecks of carbon based energy systems, our pumped storage hydroelectric projects improve overall grid efficiency and thereby reduce green house emissions. To meet peak demand, carbon based systems must ramp up from base load to peak production. These periods of ramping up (and down) and of maintaining peak production are both inefficient. Our pumped storage projects solve both forms of inefficiency. Whereas demand spikes dramatically from base to peak levels, ramp up is a process of gradually increasing production until peak output is achieved. This process is required due to system dependence on slower combustibles such as coal. As production slowly builds, the amount of energy supplied to the grid increasingly exceeds demand until finally, at the point of the spike, they once again meet. Neither consumed nor retrieved for reuse, this excess energy is simply lost, as is the revenue used to produce it. The amount of lost revenue is a measure of the system inefficiency. The number and amount of harmful emissions generated by the excess production are a measure of the cost to the environment.
Our pumped storage projects completely eliminate the need for ramp up as well as the need for non-optimal production during peak demand. Able to release huge amounts of energy within seconds, they allow the grid to maintain a tight coupling at all times between supply and demand. Also able to release these huge quantities of energy for the full duration of peak demand, they eliminate the need to supplement base load production with non-optimal peak production. In both cases our pumped storage projects reduce pollution while enhancing biotic and economic capital. |
|
||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||
Symbiotics’ pumped storage projects, including the Hook Canyon Project, provide a clean alternative to conventional peaking power generation facilities such as those that burn coal or natural gas. Our pumped storage projects meet peak energy demands without burning additional fossil fuels and increasing CO2 emissions. In addition, our projects pave the way for transitioning away from coal fired power plants by providing a storage mechanism for the further development of wind, solar, and other forms of alternative energy.
During peak production the grid is equally inefficient. Strained to produce such high output, the facilities themselves operate far below optimal levels of efficiency; for every increase in output there is a greater increase in the amount of fuel consumed. The economic measure of this inefficiency is the extra capital required to maintain increasing stocks of carbon fuels. The costs to the environment are the elevated levels of pollution caused by the elevated levels ofcarbon fuel combustion.