Excess electricity generated by the power plant cannot be stored directly and must be converted into another energy.
For example, excess electrical energy can be converted into water potential energy during periods of low electricity consumption, and then the water potential energy can be converted into kinetic energy to produce electricity during periods of peak electricity consumption. .
But such a conversion will result in a significant loss of energy.
It means using electrical energy during the low electrical load period to pump water to the upper tank, and then releasing the water to the lower tank to generate electricity during the period of peak electrical load.
The water in the reservoir upstream of the pumped storage plant is equivalent to stored electrical energy, while the reservoir downstream is equivalent toa large “energy bank”. Pumped storage power plants can use excess electricity from the power grid to run motors at night when power consumption is low to pump water from downstream reservoirs upstream and store it for during the day, when energy consumption is at its peak, water from the reservoirs can be stored. pumped to drive turbines to carry out work, converting the potential energy of water into electrical energy.
Pumped storage power plants can adjust the peak and valley differences of the power grid and improve the stability and reliability of the power system. They constitute an important means of energy storage.