The Ludington Pumped Storage Plant is a hydroelectric plant and reservoir in Ludington, Michigan. It was built between 1969 and 1973 at a cost of $315 million and is owned jointly by Consumers Energy and DTE Energy and operated by Consumers Energy. At the time of its construction, it was the largest pumped storage hydroelectric facility in the world.

Characteristics

thumb|left|Detail of the turbines when first constructed.

It consists of a reservoir deep, long, and wide which holds or 82859 acre-feet of water. The reservoir is located on the banks of Lake Michigan. Because impervious bedrock is more than below the reservoir, the builders had to line the reservoir with a layer of asphalt and clay to prevent water seeping into the ground.

The power plant consists of six reversible turbines for a total output of 2,292 megawatts. Water is delivered from the upper reservoir to the turbines by six penstocks each long that taper from in diameter.

At night, during low demand for electricity, the turbines run in reverse to pump water uphill from Lake Michigan into the reservoir. The plant takes advantage of the natural steep sand dune landform of eastern Lake Michigan. During periods of peak demand water is released to generate power. Electrical generation can begin within two minutes with peak electric output of 2,292 MW achieved in under 30 minutes. Maximum water flow is over per minute.

This process was designed to level the load of nearby nuclear power plants on the grid. It also replaces the need to build natural gas peak power plants used only during high demand. The Ludington Pumped Storage plant is connected to six 345-kV Transmission lines, all owned and maintained by METC, a subsidiary of ITC Holdings.

The project was given the 1973 award for "Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement" by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Upgrade

Consumers Energy discussed plans in 2008 to extend the life of the facility and upgrade the pumps to increase efficiency by up to 9%. Consumers Energy also planned to tap the wind power resources along the eastern Lake Michigan shore with wind farms. Plans for the upgrade include replacing all six of the plant's turbines, which would increase the plant's total generating capacity by 15 percent, and efficiency by 5 percent. Upon completion, the plant will produce enough power for a community of 1.65 million (a quarter million increase).

As of August 2020, five of the six turbines had been successfully replaced; the project was expected to be completed in May or June 2021. However claims of defective parts and timeline overruns led Consumers Power and Detroit Edison to sue the project contractor, Toshiba America in April 2022.

See also

  • List of energy storage projects
  • List of pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations
  • Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant, another large pumped-storage facility on the Great Lakes
  • Bath County Pumped Storage Station, Virginia; the largest pumped storage facility in the world until 2021

References

  • Ludington Pumped Storage Plant (Official Site)
  • satellite photo and description on NASA Earth Observatory