Lake power generation and energy storage

How much electricity does a lake produce a day?

During the day, when demand for electricity peaks, water drains back down the shaft and spins the turbines, generating 1700 megawatts of electricity—the output of a large power plant, enough to power 1 million homes. The lake stores enough water and thus enough energy to do that for 20 hours.

Can hydropower power a lake?

The lake stores enough water and thus enough energy to do that for 20 hours. Pumped storage hydropower, as this technology is called, is not new. Some 40 U.S. plants and hundreds around the world are in operation. Most, like Raccoon Mountain, have been pumping for decades. But the climate crisis is sparking a fresh surge of interest.

Are pumped storage facilities the world's largest batteries?

Advocates of pumped storage call such facilities the “world’s largest batteries.” (AP Photo/John Flesher) Eric Gustad, community affairs manager for Consumers Energy, looks into the upper reservoir of the Ludington Pumped Storage Plant on Jan. 31, 2022.

Can energy storage be a solution to the energy crisis?

One way to solve the energy crisis is to store excess energy and then release it when needed. If things go as planned, Swan Lake Valley and Edgewood Ranch will become the home to the largest energy storage project in the region, and the first larger-scale pumped hydro project built nationally in a quarter century.

How did Lake Michigan relicensing work?

During the facility’s federal relicensing in 2019, the trust was approved for another 50 years of funding public access, scientific research, habitat restoration, and Great Lakes stewardship programs to compensate the public trust for fish losses in Lake Michigan. Read more from MLive about climate and energy here.