With the continuous progress of industrial electronics, the impact of electricity on industry is increasing. There are many ways to produce electricity, and the more environmentally friendly ones are hydro, wind, and solar power. One of the most stable is hydropower, because the flow of water is controlled in modern society.
Huge infrastructures like the Three Gorges Dam can generate large amounts of electricity to supply power-starved areas, but what many people don't know is that water can not only generate electricity, but also store electricity, which many people call pumped storage.
This kind of power storage has been widely promoted in China, but is this kind of energy storage mode that consumes 100 kWh of electricity and only generates 80 kWh of electricity really suitable for Chinese people?
Why promote hydropower
Before talking about pumped hydro, we need to understand why the country is developing hydropower. Before hydropower became widespread, China used coal for a long time, as in other developing countries. With the gradual restriction of carbon emission policies in the world, the power generation mode of coal, oil and other mineral energy sources that cause a lot of air pollution has been rejected by many countries, and more environmentally friendly hydropower has become one of the best choices for new energy technologies.
Compared with coal power generation, hydropower generation is not only environmentally friendly, but also has three characteristics: regeneration, stability and controllability. Another name for the earth is water ball, water accounts for more than 70% of the earth's area, and water resources are far more abundant than land resources. And water is a kind of resource that can be recycled, as long as the greening work is done well, not only the coastal areas, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and other inland rivers are all over the area, can ensure that the perennial rain is not reduced, compared with the limited ore resources, water as a power generation resource, has more mining potential.
In addition, hydropower generation is less restricted, and hydropower facilities can be built not only offshore, but also inland river areas, compared to wind and solar, which are also clean energy. For landlocked countries, there are more options than wind and solar.
There is also controllability, wind and solar energy are unstable, even if the power generation facilities are advanced, there is no wind and sun. However, water is different, as long as reservoirs, dams and other facilities are built in areas where water is available, not only can the impact of flooding be reduced, but the size of power generation can be adjusted if necessary through water storage, which is pumped storage.
What is pumped storage?
Most people think that electricity storage is a function only of batteries, but in fact, hydropower has a similar effect, but the method is more complex than that of batteries. It is not so much electricity as water.
Pumped storage has higher natural requirements than hydroelectric power, and its facilities should be built in front of mountains, valleys, and plains with large terrain gaps. Reservoirs will be built in two areas, one high and one low, and facilities for power generation and transmission will be built between the reservoirs. Taking advantage of the difference in location between the two reservoirs, water from the higher reservoir is released and flows into the lower reservoir. Electricity is generated through this flow of water, and then the electricity is delivered.
The advantage of hydropower storage is that it can control the size of the electricity in the hands of the power generator. Power generators can adjust the size of power generation according to the actual demand of the region, and during the peak period of electricity consumption, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and other regions use this method to transmit electricity to areas with a lack of electricity. When the electricity problem in these areas is alleviated, the low-located reservoirs will be pumped back to the high-located reservoirs for the next peak of electricity consumption.
Why pumped storage is called a loss-making transaction?
Pumped storage is a method used in some areas to cope with the shortage of electricity during peak demand periods, but the movement of water, the generation of electricity to the outside world, and the transportation of the stored water back all require a large amount of current. Some people have calculated that after this operation, more electricity is spent on power generation than electricity is exported, that is, the electricity that consumes 100 kilowatt-hours mentioned above only creates 80 kilowatt-hours of electricity, so for the country, is this really a loss?
If you look at it from a region, this power generation model is indeed a loss, because it will cost tens of billions of dollars to build storage power station related facilities alone. However, from the perspective of the country's economic development, this mode of power generation is necessary and does not necessarily lose money. This is like the bank will give the customer interest after the savings and money to buy financial products from the customer, so does the bank lose money? Not necessarily, as long as the bank gets the money, the industry used for investment can make a profit, and the interest given out is only a necessary cost.
The source of electricity consumption in the storage station
The principle of pumped water storage is similar, although less electricity is produced than it is consumed. However, the electricity consumed is the electricity consumed by the water conservancy stored in the early stage, which means that the stored water is used for power conversion on a daily basis, and part of the electricity generated is used for the cost of future water storage and power generation.
Although the original electricity is consumed when the water is stored to generate electricity. However, if this electricity is generated when it is not needed on a daily basis, it is also a huge waste for electricity users and the government. Therefore, storing water and releasing it when necessary is not a waste of resources, but a means of reducing unnecessary energy consumption and rationalizing resources.
At the same time, there are also daily facility maintenance costs, and ordinary hydroelectric power plants are used for power generation for a long time, and the replacement cycle of machines is very fast. However, the equipment for water storage and power generation is only used during peak hours, and the replacement cycle of the equipment is relatively long, and its cost is much lower than that of ordinary power generation equipment.
Electricity is more than just a business
The electricity price generated by power transmission is one of the main sources of all power station operations, but electricity is not a business for the country, it is the foundation for maintaining the country's development, so we need to consider the role of pumped storage power stations from other fields.
There are many places in China that need electricity, such as the southeast coastal areas, although some wind turbines have been manufactured, but the results are still much worse than those in the Yangtze River, which has abundant water. China has long formulated a plan to transmit electricity from the west to the east, transporting electricity from the central and western regions to the coastal areas to ensure local electricity demand.
However, as China's manufacturing industry moves westward, electricity consumption in the central and western regions is also surging, and how to maintain the electricity demand in the central and western regions and coastal areas has become a problem for the government to consider, and the existence of pumped storage power stations is a good way to alleviate this demand.
Although there are many advantages of pumped storage power plants, there are also many disadvantages, such as the above-mentioned power consumption is larger than power generation, resulting in the use of storage power stations to generate electricity, electricity prices in the areas where electricity is consumed will rise rapidly, thus increasing economic pressure.
In addition, there is the environmental impact, in order to build storage power stations, it is necessary to increase the number of industrial facilities such as reservoirs, which will have an impact on the ecological environment. Overall, however, pumped storage stations remain an integral part of the country's power generation system, and should not be banned, but should be promoted. How to improve the power generation efficiency of storage stations is what the country should consider in the future.