Renewable Energy to Be Stored in Underground Caves

By: Clean Skies News, Published: 02/08/10 11:43am

Magnum Energy says it plans to dig a series of underground caverns that will be used to store compressed air generated by a wind and solar farm in central Utah.

The compressed air will run a turbine to produce electricity at times when the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing.

The caves will be hollowed out of a massive salt deposit a mile underground.

Magnum says the caverns will be used to store natural gas or liquid petroleum, and some converted to air when the wind and solar farms are running.

The company says that when completed, the caves will be able to hold billions of cubic feet of natural gas, liquid petroleum or compressed air, and produce power on a megawatt-scale. Expected capacity wasn't given.

Currently there are only "two" commercial-scale, compressed air power plants running. One is in the U.S. in Alabama, the other Germany. But other projects are now under development in Ohio and Iowa.