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NPC Newsmaker Program - Renewable Energy: Grid, Power Experts to Discuss Compressed Air Storage

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 October 2009, 13:39 CDT

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Leaders from PJM, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Energy Storage & Power, LLC (ESP) will detail the increasing need for compressed air storage for renewable energy at a National Press Club Newsmakers press conference at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27, in the Zenger Room, 13th floor, National Press Building, 529 14th St., N.W., Washington, DC.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080917/NPCLOGO )

Participants will include PJM CEO Terry Boston, EPRI's compressed air storage expert Robert Schainker and ESP CEO Stephen Byrd. Boston, who manages the Mid-Atlantic grid, has long advocated for more options to store renewable energy to help PJM better manage its power flow. Schainker, who heads EPRI's Power Delivery and Markets group, has done significant research on energy storage issues. ESP is funded by a $20 million investment from utility giant Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PSEG) and has a patented system for storing electricity in compressed air.

Next month, the Department of Energy is expected to issue grant awards for Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) technology. CAES plants store off-peak energy in the form of compressed air in underground reservoirs. When the electricity is needed, which is often during peak hours, the air is withdrawn, heated by the exhaust from a natural gas-fired combustion turbine, and run through expansion turbines to drive an electric generator.

SOURCE National Press Club

Source: PR Newswire

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