development work could be completed in four years. A study is to be made to determine the potential and economy of pumped hydro storage. The largest uncertainties in the underground reservoir program are: cost, durability with pressure, the rate of water leakage into the lower reservoir, and the availability of suitable sites. The selection of sites and geological studies should require five years, with eight additional years to build a demonstration facility. f. Magnetic (1) Applications and Goals Superconducting-magnet energy storage holds the prospect of being a very efficient means of storing large amounts of energy for load- leveling in electric power systems. Preliminary designs for storage units that could absorb the entire output from one 1000 MW nuclear plant for 10 hours have been made. This technology has potential application for large-scale (~l,000 MW) storage systems and on a smaller scale for system stability. The anticipated high efficiency of 90 to 95% provides an incentive in terms of energy conservation. The primary problem is to develop systems with acceptable capital costs. There will be a cross fertilization of technology between superconducting-magnet energy storage and magnet development for fusion, high energy physics, and MHD, and the development of superconducting power transmission lines. The current program goal is a storage unit for up to O 10 MJ (28,000 MWh) of energy in a single superconducting coil. (2) Technology Requirements The investigation of superconducting magnets for off- peak energy storage is currently in an exploratory, conceptual stage; the concept has been demonstrated in a laboratory bench-scale model. The construction of a large facility involves expensive alloys and cryogenic systems, which contribute to a high total capital cost. The practical feasibility of this storage method must be established and the economics of the system must be determined. The most difficult engineering problem with these systems is the design of a suitable method for both restraining the mechanical forces
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