Cooling ponds are commonly used by thermal power plants, which are facilities that generate electricity by converting heat energy into electrical energy. This includes coal-fired, natural gas, oil-fired, and nuclear power plants. These types of plants produce large amounts of heat during the process of creating steam to drive turbines. Once the steam has done its job, it needs to be condensed back into water, which requires cooling.
A cooling pond provides a place for the heated water to release its heat before it’s reused or returned to the environment. Power plants that don’t have access to large rivers or other natural water sources often rely on cooling ponds as an efficient and relatively low-cost method for handling waste heat. While renewable energy sources like wind and solar don’t produce the same kind of thermal waste, traditional fossil-fuel and nuclear plants benefit greatly from cooling ponds as part of their cooling systems.
