Fairfield Hydroelectric Plant, South Carolina

The Fairfield pumped storage hydroelectric plant is at the dam that forms the Monticello Reservoir, which was built to supply cooling water for the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station in South Carolina. The reservoir level is maintained by pump/turbines inside the dam, which pump water from Broad Creek (actually a flooded portion of the creek, known as the Par Shoals Reservoir). 578 megawatts of electricity can be generated when water flows back down, providing backup power for the nuclear plant, and stabilized power for the grid, especially important should the plant suddenly stop operations for some reason. The reservoir was built in 1978, and the nuclear power plant opened in 1984. Construction started on two more nuclear reactors at the site in 2013, the first new nuclear plants to begin construction in the USA in 30 years, but the project was later cancelled, after four years of construction.