Image credit: Vattenfall GmbH
For the Vattenfall power group, upgrading the Niederwartha pumped storage plant is not economical. That is why the business is closed from Monday. Dresden physics professor Sigismund Köppe knows why the old workings of a pumped storage plant still make sense. He says that as long as there are no large energy storage systems for solar and wind energy, it is best to upgrade and use the old systems.
The Niederwartha pumped storage station will be temporarily taken out of service from Monday. The operator, Fattenfall, confirmed last week that the plant would be “forced shut down”. A Vattenfall spokesperson said and named Plant 1 receipt for the longevity of this technology.
He demands that Germany should not do without it Dresden Professor of Physics Sigismund Kube. On sunny days around 12:30 p.m., the solar power systems will feed 40 gigawatts of power into the grid. “It’s about 40 nuclear power plants you’re going to get into,” said expert MDR SACHSEN. Nuclear power plants are off, wind and solar power are constantly changing, but consumption remains the same. Other power plants must be provided. So far, pumped storage stations have temporarily stored 10 percent of the energy and fed it back into the power grid via hydropower in periods of high demand.
Expert: As long as there are no large storage facilities – upgrade storage facilities by pumping
New storage options must be found. “We can’t wait for green hydrogen strategies to really bear fruit.” Sigismund Köbe asks how energy transfer can work without intermediate storage. He regards closing the pumping plants as disingenuous. Because there is currently no technology that can temporarily store the amounts of energy produced by solar and sometimes wind power plants. “Even home storage plants can’t do that,” says Professor Coby. On the other hand, pumped storage stations are a proven technology that can store related parts. Overall, however, according to the physics professor, there are “very, very few” pumped storage facilities in the country.
Maintaining pumped storage plants now makes more sense because it is essential. Currently, there are no large storage facilities for large amounts of energy, except for pumped storage stations.
Sigismund Kobe | Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Physics
Therefore, systems such as the one at Niederwartha had to be re-upgraded for 94 years. “It costs some money. We’re talking about a few hundred million euros. But that’s a very small amount compared to the total funding that’s being spent on energy transition.”
Image credit: dpa
Negotiations for a pumped storage station
On the other hand, Vattenfall said that the modernization of the plant in Niederwartha was not economical despite multiple tests. It said before the end of operations that the system had been “used sporadically at best to generate electricity in the past”. Last week, the energy company confirmed talks with Sachsenenergie. The City of Dresden commissioned Sachsenenegie to negotiate with Vattenfall about taking over the pumped storage station.
This is how the pumped storage station works– Electricity is generated from hydroelectric power at a pumped storage station.
It consists of an upper and lower reservoir and a hydroelectric power station.
– Usually, when there is a high demand for electricity, power is generated by driving a turbine with water from an overhead tank. When less electricity is consumed, water is pumped back from the bottom to the upper tank.
This topic in the program:MDR Saxon | SACHSENSPIEGEL | August 14, 2023 | 7:00 pm
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