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This has certainly been baked separately, but the synergy's the thing here.
A major issue raised by nuke proponents and others concerning wind power is the uncertainty of the wind. A way to economically store energy for times when the wind is not blowing is therefore needed.
Wind turbine towers
could have a cable attached to a large weight internal to the tower. At times of lower demand, the turning force of the blades could be disconnected from the generator and used to raise the weight to the top of the tower (hub heights are now up to 130 meters).
When power demand is high and the wind is not blowing, the blades would be disconnected from the generator, and the weight would be released to turn the generator via gravity and generate power.
While probably not a huge amount of storage, it would certainly increase the total output of the turbine, thus increasing their utility and smoothing out the production curve.
If you left the weight attached to the blades when descending, you could also create a nice breeze on a hot day. ;-)
[link]
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I quite like the idea, but I suggest that you dispense with the "nice breeze on a hot day" bit - since no person would notice it, but the energy put into turning the blades would be taken from what would potentially power the generator. |
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Any idea just how much power could be generated? I wouldn't expect loads - especially since dropping the weight is a one-time thing. |
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...although similarly, dropping the water from the top to the bottom lake at Dinorwic in Wales is a one-time thing too. That generates a good few megawatts for several hours (note lack of facts) and helps stabilise the UK power grid. |
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Weren't windmills used to pump water up to a tank? Isn't that gravity storage? |
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Lifting 1 metric tonne up a 130-meter tower results in 130,000 Kgf*m, or .354 KWh of stored energy. |
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my 100 watt light bulb burns .1 KWh/h |
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Assuming I do nothing more than light my house, and that energy recovery and transmission is 100%, the bulb would stay lit for a little more than 3.5 hours. |
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Granted, you could probably lift much more than one tonne, but I get the feeling that this energy could be put to better use by using the energy as fast as it is produced, and running other, more polluting power plants at a lower level. |
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OK, fridge duck, smilie added... |
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Freefall - the problem I am trying to solve is that if you have enough polluting generation capacity to handle your peak loads, then you will not get major investment in wind power as it can not be counted on to help during those peaks. I am trying to get wind counted as part of the 'baseline' capacity. |
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Thanks for the numbers [Freefall], so if I can assume it wouldn't be too much trouble to lift 100 T, then that would be about 35 KWh, possibly stored and released up to twice per day. That would yield 70 KWh, at Ontario Hydro's rate of $0.17/KWh (for wind power into the grid) gives $11.90 (CDN) per day per turbine. |
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Thats $4345 per year in additional revenue for your investment. Not a lot, to be sure, but not negligible either I would say. Faster payback and profitability, anyway. |
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waddabout using the turbine tower as a giant scuba tank to store energy in the form of compressed air? seems like there would be a far greater potential for energy storage in that. |
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Or attach the turbine to a really, really big rubber band... [+] |
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Bone for trying to make something that is already very energy inefficient, windmills, work in reverse. |
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mabe a fly wheel would work better and store more power then a waght |
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The flywheel woud be better, though I'd have to run the numbers. Both require a CVT, but the flywheel would be easier to make safe (put it underground). The weight liftting is scary and would add signficantly to tower contruction. This is baked by using lakes and hydro generators which is a remote way of doing the same thing. |
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