A trip to a pumped storage power plant is not a matter of course in the curriculum at Fachhochschule Dortmund. That's why a visit to Lake Hengstey in nearby Herdecke was a special highlight of the 2022/23 winter semester for students on the "Energy Systems" Master's degree program.
In addition to the impressive turbine, which contributes significantly to the stability of the electricity grid in the region with an output of around 160 megawatts, the participants in the "Electrical Energy Sources" course were also able to visit the control room to understand the technical processes in the plant operated by RWE. Dr. Hans-Christoph Funke, honorary professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and former operations manager at the plant, had organized the exclusive look behind the scenes.
Battery storage for a reliable power supply
The excursion to the site of the former Koepchen plant also included a tour of two large battery storage units, which are used for so-called system services to ensure a reliable power supply. "The 552 battery modules, including those from decommissioned electric vehicles, each with 100 lithium-ion cells, have a total storage capacity of seven megawatt hours, which enables around one hour of grid supply," explains Prof. Dr. Martin Kiel, who led the excursion with his colleague Dr. Hans-Christoph Funke.