Thought you heard it all? Storing power underwater in balloons

[DougA]

The title pretty much says it all. Story is here on a pilot project:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...er-in-balloons-deep-down-in-lake-ontario.html

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The title pretty much says it all. Story is here on a pilot project:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...er-in-balloons-deep-down-in-lake-ontario.html

Awesome idea! I hope it works exactly as planned. It's certainly a simple concept.

 

[jebatty]

Will this have an adverse impact by raising sea and lake levels? I think I'm kidding, but not sure. Poor efficiency could be a problem in converting electricity to compressed air and then reconverting compressed air to electricity through turbines. But the expense of an underwater storage system might be much less than some other alternative storage strategies.

 

[semipro]

I've heard of a similar concept using underground caverns like salt domes.
Energy companies have stored natural gas underground for some years.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Will this have an adverse impact by raising sea and lake levels? I think I'm kidding, but not sure. Poor efficiency could be a problem in converting electricity to compressed air and then reconverting compressed air to electricity through turbines. But the expense of an underwater storage system might be much less than some other alternative storage strategies.

If the balloons were filled with air they would certainly displace water. Whether that is enough to raise the level of the body of water would probably depend on it's size and shoreline.

I think they are using the weight of the water to give the air additional energy by pushing it out at greater force. Of course, they have to push the water out of the way in the first place. I suppose it's just a different form of battery. 60 feet has almost 4 atmospheres of pressure (1 air and 3 of water). There's a lot of pressure down there. Especially at the bottom as the balloon base is well below the 60 foot top.

 

[DougA]

I guess the idea is a good one. My concern is that if it works, they will put thousands of these in Lake Ontario which will then become a real problem. They did the same thing with wind turbines in many areas of Ontario and now there are thousands of them. Real estate values have gone way down in some areas because they were allowed too close to houses and many people have become wind turbine haters. All is good when things are done in moderation.
I still am against anything where the gov't pays out 10x the cost of 'normal' power generation. We have no fossil fuel generation in Ontario anymore and Ont. taxpayers pay for power that is given away to neighbours in the US. Just insane.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I'm guessing all power is hydro or nuclear then?