Dresser-Rand is uniquely qualified to deliver total CAES solutions. We designed and built the entire turbomachinery train for Alabama Electric Cooperative’s McIntosh facility – the first CAES plant in the U.S. It has an impressive track record of availability and starting reliability since 1991, and continues to satisfy the intermediate and peaking electrical production needs of this major utility.

In a CAES facility, off-peak electricity is used to power a motor/generator that drives compressors to force air into an underground storage reservoir at high pressures. During intermediate electrical demand periods the air is withdrawn from the reservoir, heated in gas- or oil-fired combustors, and expanded through turbines that drive the same motor/generator to produce electrical power.

Using off-peak power to meet intermediate and peak demand is less expensive than using units that are completely powered by fuel or purchasing power from neighboring utilities. CAES generators can be on-line in approximately 15 minutes, are environmentally compatible, and are faster and less expensive to build than large power plants.