Condenser Cooling and Pumped Storage Reservoirs

The feasibility of utilizing pumped-storage reservoirs to increase the supplies of cooling water for thermal power plants is investigated. An important parameter in such studies is the determination of the waste heat that can be dissipated by the lake. For illustration purposes a recent thermal site evaluation is described. The proposed impoundment is to serve as the lower reservoir of a 750 Mw pumped-storage facility. In addition, this study showed that this lake can dissipate the waste heat from water-cooled nuclear plants with a total capacity of 2,750 Mw. Equivalently, fossil-fired stations with a total capacity of 4,100 Mw can be accommodated by the lake. The higher thermal efficiency of fossil-fueled plants is the main reason for this difference. Also, the increase in evaporation rate resulting from these plants can be readily made up by natural inflows. Hence, significant amounts of electricity can be safely generated at the site.