Pumped Storage Systems - Static Reserve or Spinning Reserve?

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Regards JD.

Thanks JD but I'm still a bit confused. So is a pumped storage system spinning before its brought online? I would therefore understand that to be spinning reserve

Spinning reserve is plant already on line, running at minimum load ready to to take any load on loss of a unit some where on the system, these units come on line around peak loading times. Pumped storage and Gas turbines are stand by plant that can be brought on line at short notice, about 2 min, from memory.

Regards JD.

Hi JD,

So pumped storage and gas turbines would be non spinning reserve then? Is that correct?

Standby spinning reserve, or generating reserve.

Regards JD.

Spinning reserve usually applies to gas/steam turbines which are "spinning" using fuel BUT are not coupled to the generator = No Electricity output

In pumped storage - the gas turbines/generator would be in full load BUT the juice is switched from service grid to the input to the PUMPS (which are not running/spinning til they get the juice but are available, they are not consuming fuel=electricity).

The pumps only run when the hydro-turbine are NOT spinning/running, although they could run any time, they would be put into spinning before the now-spinning hydroturbines are engaged to the generators....

Therefore in a coupling of gas turbines and pumped-storage systems, the elements are are NOT "SPINNING", as the gas turbines are generating base loads - and the hydroturbines are NOT "SPINNING" without generating juice....unless they have some leaking gates/valves.

Tom

Spinning reserve is plant already on line, running at minimum load ready to to take any load on loss of a unit some where on the system,

these units come on line around peak loading times.

Pumped storage and Gas turbines are stand by plant that can be brought on line at short notice, about 2 min, from memory.

Pumped storage is hydroelectric. Most hydroelectric generators can used as capacitors when no power is required. The generator is connected to the line and the turbine scroll is filled with compressed air to reduce load on the motoring generator. Excitation can be adjusted to adjust the vars produced by the motoring generator. When power is needed, the scroll is purged with water from the reservoir and power generation begins immediately. They can definitely be classed as spinning reserve when they are "condensing" as the old hands called it.

For the younger guys, capacitors were called condensers until the fifties.

What about compressed storage? I remember reading somewhere about deep underground caverns being used in that way. Compressed air storage has the advantage of not needing elevation above generators to work.