Wall Street Journal 9-23-14
Companies propose $8-billion green-energy plan for Los Angeles Plan features massive electricity-storage facility in Utah as its centerpiece By Michael Calia Four companies proposed Tuesday an ambitious, $8 billion, green-energy plan for Los Angeles that features a massive electricity-storage facility as its centerpiece. The companies—Pathfinder Renewable Wind Energy, Magnum Energy, Dresser-Rand Group Inc. and Duke-American Transmission—also proposed building a large wind farm in Wyoming. A 525-mile transmission line would connect that site to the underground storage facility in Utah. The facility would yield an output equivalent to that of a large nuclear plant, enough to serve 1.2 million homes in the Los Angeles area, the companies said in a news release. It would also enable electricity to keep flowing even in times when there is no wind, the companies said. During times of low demand, the system would store excess power from the wind farm using high-pressure air in caverns carved out of underground salt formations in Utah, the companies said. The compressed air would then be used, in combination with a “small amount” of natural gas, to power eight electricity generators. The project would generate 9.2 million megawatt-hours a year, which is more than double what is produced by the Hoover Dam, the group said. “This project would be the 21st century’s Hoover Dam—a landmark of the clean energy revolution,” Pathfinder Managing Partner Jeff Meyer said. Under the proposal, Pathfinder would own, build and operate the wind farm, while Pathfinder, Magnum and Dresser-Rand would install the energy-storage facility. The announcement comes a day after Germany’s Siemens AG said it agreed to buy Houston-based oil-equipment DresserRand for $6.4 billion. Duke-American Transmission – a partnership between Duke Energy Corp. and American Transmission Co. – would look to build the high-voltage transmission line connecting the wind farm and the storage facility. The proposal unveiled Tuesday said the new line would be a shorter alternative to Duke-American Transmission’s proposed Zephyr line, which would run 850 miles. An existing 490-mile line would connect the Utah site to the Los Angeles area. The companies said they would make a formal proposal to the Southern California Public Power Authority by early next year.