Method of Operation
Water is released from the upper reservoir during periods of high demand and is used to generate electricity. What makes this different from other hydroelectric dams is that during times of low demand, power is taken from coal, nuclear, and other power plants and is used to pump water from the lower to the upper reservoir. Although this plant uses more power than it generates, it allows these other plants to operate at close to peak efficiency for an overall cost savings. Back Creek and Little Back Creek, the water sources used to create the reservoirs, have a relatively small flow rate. However, since water is pumped between the reservoirs equally, the only water taken from these creeks now that the reservoirs are full is to replace the water lost to evaporation. During operation, the water level fluctuates by over 105 feet (30 m) in the 265-acre (110 ha) upper reservoir and 60 feet (20 m) feet in the 555-acre (220 ha) lower reservoir.
When generating power, the water flow can be as much as 13.5 million US gallons (51,000 m3) per minute (850 m³/sec). When storing power, the flow can be as much as 12.7 million US gallons (48,000 m3) per minute (800 m³/sec).
Read more about this topic: Bath County Pumped Storage Station
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