Source: Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, Geologic map of the Virginia portion of the Staunton 30 X 60 minute quadrangle (Publication 163). They are reversible, and serve as pumps as well as electricity generators. It stores energy for PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission organization in 13 states and the District of Columbia. Pumped storage is the process of storing energy by using two vertically separated water reservoirs. The water is regularly tested, according to Environmental Compliance Coordinator Susan Davis. Maximum static pressure from the top of the water delivery system to the turbines is 1,320 feet (400m). The World's Biggest Battery (Classic) California is generating a ton of solar power--some days, more than people can use. The water flows drops 1,262 feet from the upper to the lower reservoir. Source: ESRI, ArcGIS Online. Source: US Geological Survey (USGS), National Map. Two ponds (27 and 45 acres) have good densities of largemouth bass. Robert Steele, the project manager at Voith, recalls: "The head cover and the impellers were transported on a special 19 axle truck. Today on the show, we visit the world's biggest battery, built out of a mountain and a lake. Bath County will not be the world's largest pumped hydro station for much longer. The six turbines were upgraded between 2004-2009, increasing output by slightly less than 10%. By selecting to choose later, you are choosing not to view state specific content. at the Bath County Pumped Storage Station, Dominion Energy pumps water between two reservoirs to create a giant battery providing electricity at times of peak demand A major drought, restricting the ability to recharge the reservoirs with rainfall to offset evaporation and water released to maintain the fishery in Back Creek, could reduce that capacity. [2] The station is located in the northern corner of Bath County, Virginia, on the southeast side of the Eastern Continental Divide, which forms this section of the border between Virginia and West Virginia. The great affair is to move. Together. The impellers were replaced. In 2003, Voith was commissioned for the redevelopment. When generating power, the water flow can be as much as 13.5million US gallons (51,000m3) per minute (850m3/s). Owner/Manager: Dominion Energy (owner and manager) and Allegheny Energy (owner) This page was last updated at 2023-03-03 06:36 UTC. The Bath County Pumped Storage Station is a pumped storage hydroelectric power plant, which is described as the "largest battery in the world", with a generation capacity of 3,003 MW The station is located in the northern corner of Bath County, Virginia, on the southeast side of the Eastern Continental Divide, which forms this section of the border between Virginia and West Virginia. The Bath County Pumped Storage Station is a pumped storage hydroelectric power plant, . The upgraded program incorporates new robotic and digital surveying instrumentation, better data processing and analysis methods, and improved minimum . Upper Reservoir Dam is 460 feet high and 2,200 feet long, containing 18 million cubic yards of earth and rock fill. This spins the turbines forward, activating the generators to produce electricity. Bath County Pumped Storage Station is the world's most powerful pumped hydro facility, quietly balancing the electricity needs of millions of homes and businesses. I was given the special opportunity to visit . Bath County Pumped Storage Station Both reservoirs are created by earth . Voith dismantled the giant turbines piece by piece. If conservation storage drops to 50% or lower, the required minimum flows are reduced.11, two recreational ponds offer warmwater fishing, and 1.5 miles of Back Creek (between red asterisks) is designated as "Delayed Harvest Waters" for trout On the banks of the lower reservoir, the Bath County pumped storage power station can be found nestling in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains in the US state of Virginia. The maximum power generation of 3,030MW is possible only when the reservoir is full. It could ask for State Corporation Commission approval to build another coal-fired power plant or nuclear reactor, but the additional electricity would be unneeded for much of the day. The dam on Little Back Creek, creating the upper reservoir, is 460 feet high. Update now. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. The water level in the upper reservoir can drop 105 feet, and in the lower reservoir can rise 60 feet. At times of low electricity demand, like at night or on weekends, excess . Pumping 12.7 million gallons of water per minute, Generating 13.5 million gallons of water per minute. Home / / bath county pumped storage station tours. News and Insights, Ludington Pumped Storage Plant, Consumers Energy, Drilling and Instrumentation Installation. This maintains the pumped storage power station as an efficient and reliable energy supplier. Dominion Energy has referred to its Bath County facility as a "mountain of power" and "a quiet giant," and claims it is:3, There are nearly 300 pumped storage projects in the world, and 40 in the United States. As it considers SW Va. site, Dominion offers tour of pumped storage station in Bath County. During operation, the water level fluctuates by over 105 feet (30m) in the upper reservoir and 60 feet (20m) feet in the lower reservoir. In 1988, the Supreme Court ruled that the Corps' denial of the Section 404 permit would stand, and Canaan Valley would not be flooded for a reservoir. At times of low demand, such as the middle of the night, flow is reversed. The ponds offer excellent sunfish opportunities with fish in the 8-9 inch range, and good numbers of nice-sized channel catfish are present. The transaction, announced in late 2016, was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in June 2017. The flow when pumping uphill is slightly lower, at 12.7 million gallons per minute. In 2017 the largest pumped storage in Europe was the Cortes-La Muela hydroelectric project in Spain, rated at 1,762MW. Source: Virginia Electric and Power Company, Bath County project: Draft Environmental Impact Statement (p.1-24). The Bath County Pumped Storage Station is a pumped storage hydroelectric power plant, which is described as the "largest battery in the world", with a maximum generation capacity of 3,003 MW, an average of 2,772 MW, and a total storage capacity of 24,000 MWh. Hot Springs, VA 24445 2023 Bath County, Virginia Mountains Region. Back Creek should receive a minimum of 10cfs. Power and Energy, Coal Refuse and Coal Combustion Residuals, View all GE is a world leader in pumped storage plant equipment and supplies in-house capabilities not only for turbines and generators but also the full electrical balance of plant. Dominion Energy's Bath County Hydroelectric pumped storage power station, the largest in the world, generates enough energy to power more than 750,000 homes. It has a structural volume of 4,000,000 cubic yards (3,100,000m3) and creates a reservoir with a surface area of 555 acres (225ha) and storage capacity of 27,927 acre-feet (34,447,000m3). By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. You can cancel at any time. The penstocks are 3,780 feet long and 28.5 feet in diameter, and have concrete walls 18-24 inches thick. . Regular Meeting Agenda Call Meeting to Order Pledge of Allegiance . Lower Reservoir Dam is 135 feet high and 2,400 feet long, containing 4 million cubic yards of earth and rock fill. A view up the ladder access to one of six hydraulic rams that control the intake gates on the upper reservoir of the Bath County Pumped Storage Station. In 1971, VEPCO did not anticipate the fracking boom that would generate a surplus of gas three decades later, ultimately causing a dramatic reduction in the price of that fuel. as a condition of awarding the license for the project, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission required VEPCO to compensate Highland County:12, increased property tax revenues from the project benefit Bath County, while Highland County experienced extra costs during the 1977-85 construction On Bath's southern border with Alleghany, the damming of the Jackson River created Lake Moomaw, one of the largest reservoirs in western Virginia. They were labelled as "exotic" and not considered to be viable alternatives, reflecting the technological capabilities and economics of the time. Source: ESRI, ArcGIS Online. The Federal Energy Regulatory Committee approved the pumped storage project, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied the Clean Water Act Section 404 permit needed for construction. Unlike a coal-fired or nuclear generating plant, there are no significant delays for "warming up" and no downtime for refueling.7, Peak power can be generated for only three hours. Allegheny Energy sold its service areas to Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative and Rappahannock Electric Cooperative in 2010, but retained its ownership in the Bath County facility. Six massive ball valves control the flow of water from the upper reservoir into the power-generating turbines of the Bath County Pumped Storage Station. The proposed Southwest Virginia site would be considerably smaller than the Bath County site, Adkins said. The utility could have proposed to build a power plant fueled by natural gas, since such facilities could be turned on and off relatively quickly. With a total capacity of more than 3030 megawatts, Bath County is once more the most powerful pumped storage power station in the world following the modernization. Voith modernized the "quiet giant's" six turbines in 2009 to make it fit for the years to come. The Bath County Pumped Storage Station was completed and started generating electricity in 1985. The new concept for the stator winding used a 540 degrees transposition instead of the original 360 degrees. Although this plant uses more power than it generates, it allows these other plants to operate at close to peak efficiency for an overall cost savings. When generating power, the water flow can be as much as 13.5million US gallons (51,000m3) per minute (850m3/s). Source: US Geological Survey (USGS), Sunrise, VA-WV 7.5 minute quadrangle map (2016). For other questions, help is available under Contact Us. Categories . bath county pumped storage station tours A location to build a new dam and reservoir would be difficult to find, but a small project might be feasible. . If the upper reservoir was fully drained over 11 hours, it could produce 24,000 megawatt-hours of electricity. penstocks through Little Mountain (brown lines) carry water down to the lower reservoir, then back up to the upper reservoir This project consists of a 3GW Pumped Hydro storage plant in Virginia that pumps water to an elevated reservoir at night and lets it run back down to generate electricity during the day. The site consists of six turbines, each of which can run up to 11 hours, according to Bill Mitchell, operations and maintenance manager. The company claimed that the proposed Snowy Hydro expansion would have:5. Published by on October 31, 2021. What makes this different from other hydroelectric dams is that during times of low demand, power is taken from coal, nuclear, and other power plants and is used to pump water from the lower to the upper reservoir. Hydroelectric power or hydropower is a clean, renewable energy source that generates about 10% of the nations energy. The upper reservoir dam is 460 feet (140m) high, 2,200 feet (670m) long and has a structural volume of 18,000,000 cubic yards (14,000,000m3). I travel for travel's sake. The station is located in the northern corner of Bath County, Virginia, on the southeast side of the Eastern Continental Divide, which . All shipment arrived at the Bath County Pumped Storage Station as planned.". FirstEnergy subsidiary Allegheny Generating Company continues to own 1,200 MW of the 3,000 MW Bath County Pumped-Storage Hydro facility in Warm Springs, Va. When demand is high, valves permit water to run through the tunnels to the lower reservoir at a rate as high as 13.5 million gallons per minute, turning six turbine generators. Although this plant uses more power than it generates, it allows these other plants to operate at close to peak efficiency for an overall cost savings. Flows to Back Creek and Little Back Creek are supplemented by storage from the station reservoirs. The station is located in the northern corner of Bath County, Virginia, on the southeast side of the Eastern Continental Divide, which . View the latest Integrated Resource Plan. Water Supply, Conveyance, and Distribution, View all Virginia Electric and Power Company Omistaja: Dominion Energy (60 %), Bath County Energy LLC (24 %), Allegheny Power System (16 %) Operaattori: Dominion Energy: Ylpuolisen altaan pato; Tyyppi: Source: US Energy Information Administration, Pumped storage provides grid reliability even with net generation loss. The lower reservoir would have flooded Canaan Valley, whose wetlands and upland habitats were being considered for permanent protection as a National Wildlife Refuge. To use the power, the water is released from the upper reservoir back down into the river or lower reservoir. In Tazewell County, Dominion would pump water from a nearby mine. The dam on Back Creek, creating the lower reservoir, is 135 feet high. Because water levels in the two reservoirs change so much and so rapidly, they are not safe for recreational use. Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) is a type of hydroelectric energy storage. The design of this plant and its hydraulic and electrical equipment, the site selection, licensing, and planned operation are discussed. The dam was completed in 1985 and upgrades were added in 2009. Schnabel Engineering, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This significantly improves stream flow during periods of drought and enhances the environment for fish and other aquatic life. The price of a kilowatt-hour of electricity sold in the late afternoon is high. This site uses cookies to enhance the user experience and measure marketing activities. The overhaul of Bath County was completed within six years. A conventional hydroelectric plant was also considered. More than 3,000 people worked on the project. [7][8] Bath County Station is jointly owned by Dominion Generation (60%) and FirstEnergy (40%), and managed by Dominion. The upper basin of the Bath County pumped storage power station is more than a square kilometer in size and contains almost 14 million cubic meters of water. Because the extreme fluctuations of the water levels at the Bath County Pumped Storage area make them unsuitable for recreation, Dominion Power . If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari, Location of Bath County Pumped Storage Station in Virginia, Bath County Pumped Storage Station Website, List of largest hydroelectric power stations in the United States, Buildings and structures in Bath County, Virginia, Pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations in the United States, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. The water flows down through turbines into the lower reservoir, which was created by buildig a dam across Back Creek. By selecting to choose later, you are choosing not to view state specific content. [2], The upper and lower reservoirs are created by earth and rock-filled embankment dams. Once approved by Dominion and government agencies, Spencer Adkins said it would take 10 years to build and start a new site in Southwest Virginia. Construction would result in 3,000 jobs and 50 would be employed when the new site is operating, according to Dominion. Burton (girls) triumph in triple-header at UVa-Wise, VHSL HOOPS: Parker Bandy's emergence key for Honaker Tigers, In Tennessee, a Medicaid mix-up might land you on a most wanted list, Farmville native caught with 42 lbs of cocaine, $862K in drug money gets 17 years, A Tour of the Bath County Pumped Storage Station, Global race is on to improve EV range in the cold, Moscow reportedly threatened new parents in Ukraine: Register your newborns as Russian or else, The impact of climate change will be felt worse in these three U.S. cities, Scientists reveal hidden corridor in Great Pyramid of Giza. For almost two decades, the pump-turbines were in service in the interior of the power station. PSH facilities store and generate electricity by moving water between two reservoirs at different elevations. From VEPCO's perspective in 1971, pumped storage was already a proven technology with a track record of meeting electricity peak demand requirements in Virginia.