Switzerland has unveiled its latest renewable energy innovation: a giant water battery.
Beginning operations last month, the water battery, called Nant de Drance, is a pumped storage hydropower plant that provides the same energy storage capacity as 400,000 electric car batteries.
Located high in the Swiss Alps in the canton of Valais, the plant is equipped with agile, reversible turbines that offer new levels of flexibility, says Robert Gleitz, a delegate of the board of directors of Nant de Drance: with the flick of a switch, the plant can go from storing energy to providing electricity.
The massive project took 14 years to complete. Around 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) of subterranean tunnels were excavated through the Alps while the six turbines are stored 600 meters (1970 feet) below ground, in a giant cavern the length of two football fields. (CNN)
This story exemplifies the creativity of the human race and our ability to encounter new challenges to its survival.
I hope we continue to use innovation to create tools of peace, not war!
If not today, when?
ifnottodaywhen.blog 