The nation’s only CAES unit is located at PowerSouth’s McIntosh Power Plant.

Our nation’s first compressed air energy storage (CAES)power plant lies in the unassuming town of McIntosh in southwest Alabama. It was established in 1991 by PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, Baldwin EMC’s wholesale power supplier.

To say the McIntosh Power Plant is one of a kind is a bit of an overstatement, but not by much. There is one other, located 4,800 miles away in Huntorf, Germany. Plants like these provide an efficient way for companies like PowerSouth to supply electricity during periods of high demand, by utilizing stored electricity generated during periods of lower demand and therefore lower costs.

The McIntosh Power Plant was built 30 years ago above a solution-mined salt cavern located 1,500 feet underground, which provides 19.8 million cubic feet of compressed air storage. The plant uses off-peak electricity, or electricity available at times of low demand, to pump air into the cavern. Then, during peak periods, the McIntosh Power Plant uses the compressed air combined with natural gas to generate and supply power.

One full charge from the 110-megawatt CAES plant provides enough electricity to supply the electric demands of 11,000 homes for 26 hours.

The strength of the cavern – 50 times that of the maximum air pressure produced by the CAES unit – minimizes the risks associated with storing compressed air.

The McIntosh Power Plant’s CAES unit burns roughly one-third of the natural gas per kilowatt-hour of output compared to a conventional combustion turbine, thus producing only about one-third of the pollutants.

This unique power plant was also the first in the world to use a fuel-efficient recuperator, which recovers some of the energy wasted during the power generation process, reducing fuel consumption by 25 percent.

While not a fuel source in and of itself, the McIntosh Power Plant’s energy storage technology supports PowerSouth’s overall generation in a cost-effective efficient way, making it a valuable resource unlike any other in our nation.

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