Taum sauk hydroelectric power station, USA

Taum sauk hydroelectric power station



Hydropower station is usually located near water, or in the source itself, such as a dam on the river. But from the TAUM Sauk hydropower stations over 80 kilometers from the nearest water source - the Mississippi River. St. Francois mountains of Missouri Ozarks, about 140 km south of Lesterville, St. Louis, Missouri, near the top, built-in TAUM Sauk hydropower is a pure pumped storage hydropower station, is designed to help meet peak power demand during the day. Through the turbines during the high demand for electricity, the water is stored in a kidney-shaped water Kupuluofei the top of the mountain is released to a lower reservoir, two kilometers away, the east fork of Heihe. In the evening, when demand for electricity is low, excess electricity on the grid used to pump water to the top of the hill. In essence, the power plant is like a huge battery until it needs to store excess energy.

Although pumped storage hydropower stations around the world and Sauk TAUM plant is worth noting is that it is a pure pumped back into operation - there is no the natural mainstream power generation, unlike most other pumped storage site. It is the largest such project, when it is established.

Sauk TAUM construction of the plant began in 1960 and became operational in 1963. Two reversible pump-turbine units capable of producing 175 megawatts of electricity. They upgraded units in 1999 to 225 MW each. In 2005, the factory had to close the upstream reservoir, suffered a catastrophic failure of the release of 40,000 cubic meters of water in 12 minutes to send a 20-foot peak down Heihe water. The water flood roared Sauk State Park TAUM swept away the park manager's home and his three small children seriously injured.

The plant to return to service after a gap of four years. Reconstruction of the upper reservoir is now considered a milestone in the project, is North America's largest roller compacted concrete dam. 5 backup system in order to prevent another disaster, and nine cameras dotted around the reservoir facilities stationed around-the-clock staff 24-hour surveillance.

Before the failure, the the upper reservoir tourists usually can drive Plouffe the top of the mountain, at the top of the reservoir, take the ramp, viewing platform. The gate also has a prominent Missouri Museum of Natural History. Power plants geology students, because frequented Precambrian / Cambrian unconformity rock layer of the construction of the plant exposed to a prominent example.