The 900 MW Nant de Drance Pumped Storage Power Plant in Switzerland was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions for 2022.
TIME said, “After 14 years of construction — including excavation of 10.5 miles of subterranean tunnels — a giant water battery began operating in July in the heart of Europe. Wedged high in the Swiss Alps, the Nant de Drance pumped storage power plant aims to help stabilize Europe’s power supply while supporting the transition to renewable energy. Excess power, including from solar and wind, can be ‘stored’ in the plant’s two reservoirs; water moves between them down a steel pipe taller than the Eiffel Tower to power six turbines about 2,000 ft (600 m) underground. The $2 billion system, the largest of its kind in Europe, can store up to 20 million kilowatt hours — similar to the capacity of 400,000 car batteries.”
Located 600 m below ground in a cavern between the Emosson and Vieux Emosson reservoirs in the Finhaut municipality, the Nant de Drance power plant features six pump-turbine units with a capacity of 150 MW each. The highly flexible machines make it possible to switch from pumping at full power to turbining at full power in less than 5 minutes. The upper reservoir of Vieux Emosson holds 25 million m3 of water.
Situated at the heart of the mountain, the powerhouse cavern measures 194 m long, 52 m high and 32 m wide and required the excavation of 400,000 m3 of rock and the drilling of 17 km of tunnels. The Vieux Emosson dam located at 2,200 m altitude was raised by 21.5 m in order to double capacity of the reservoir and provide adequate storage capacity for the facility.
Nant de Drance is owned by Nant de Drance SA and its shareholders Alpiq (39%), SFR (36%), IWB (15%) and FMV (10%).
To compile the list, TIME solicited nominations from its editors and correspondents around the world, paying special attention to growing fields — such as the electric vehicle industry, green energy and the metaverse. TIME evaluated each contender on a number of key factors, including originality, efficacy, ambition and impact.
Last month, Hydro Review reported that Oscilla Power’s Triton grid-scale ocean wave energy converter also was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions for 2022.
