As a way to help meet California's renewable energy goals, Pacific Gas & Electric will delve into a research and demonstration project with the help of $1 million from the California Energy Commission.

The project, a compressed air energy storage (CAES) plant, is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve reliability and lower electric power system costs.

As part of the research, PG&E will verify the performance of advanced, CAES technology for providing support to the state's electric grid. Excess wind energy will be used to compress air into depleted natural gas reservoirs within PG&E's territory and used to generate electricity during periods of high demand.

When completed, the facility will be the third CAES plant in the world, and the first on the west coast.

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