PUMPED STORAGE TO POWER ISLAND

Pumped-storage hydro scheme planned for island of Alderney
May 16, 2011 (PennWell via HydroWorld)

"Tidal energy developer Alderney Renewable Energy is planning a small pumped-storage hydro project on the island of Alderney in the Channel Islands…

"The pumped-storage hydropower scheme would [reportedly] use tidal power devices, with an estimated combined capacity of about 3-MW, to power a system that would pump sea water into a land-based reservoir before releasing the water through at least one hydro turbine…The pumped-storage scheme would supply an estimated 90 percent of the island's power demands."

Schematic of the concept (click to enlarge)

"The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy.

"Recently, ARE signed an agreement to lease a site near Braye Harbour, Alderney, as the site of the turbine pump house and reservoir…[The company has begun an environmental impact assessment to obtain marine consent from the Alderney Commission for Renewable Energy…[and their] project could [reportedly] be completed by 2012…"