Feasibility of Using Wind Energy and CAES Systems in a Variety of Geologic Systems

Renewable energy sources, such as wind energy, are expected to be sources of sustainable energy as fossil fuels are depleted. Wind energy is a promising, but intermittent energy source. Large scale energy storage such as Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) is needed to account for intermittency. CAES is designed to store off-peak energy to make it available for use during peak demand periods. Currently, CAES plants are located in caverns, which are uncommon in occurrence. CAES wind farms can become a more reliable energy source if other geological structures such as depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs are used for storage. This study used a black oil simulator to model CAES in a typical cavern setting, in a hypothetical reservoir setting, and in a potential CAES wind farm area in the Greater Green River Basin (GGRB) of Wyoming. The cavern setting is modeled after the Huntorf CAES facility in Germany. Wind speed and resulting power data for GGRB models were taken from the Medicine Bow Wind Project in Wyoming. Porosity, permeability, and injectivity information from GGRB was used to construct four models of hybrid systems that combined wind energy and CAES for different geographical locations and geological properties. The model of a cavern setting validated use of a black oil simulator for CAES applications. The study showed that CAES can be used in a variety of geologic settings, and that the GGRB has good potential for supporting wind energy and CAES systems. This talk will present details of the study and provide suggestions for future work.