Global Atlas of Closed-Loop Pumped Hydro Energy Storage

Matthew Stocks; Ryan Stocks; Bin Lu; Cheng Cheng; Andrew Blakers

doi:10.1016/j.joule.2020.11.015

Global Atlas of Closed-Loop Pumped Hydro Energy Storage

Matthew Stocks^*, Ryan Stocks, Bin Lu, Cheng Cheng, Andrew Blakers

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

90 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Wind turbines and solar photovoltaic (PV) collectors dominate new electricity capacity additions. Wind and solar PV are variable generators requiring storage to support large fractions of total generation. Pumped hydro energy storage is the largest, lowest cost, and most technically mature electrical storage technology. However, new river-based hydroelectric systems face substantial social and environmental opposition, and sites are scarce, leading to an assumption that pumped hydro has similar limited potential. Closed-loop pumped hydro storage located away from rivers (“off-river”) overcomes the problem of finding suitable sites. We have undertaken a thorough global analysis identifying 616,000 systems, available on a free government online platform. This immense pumped hydro resource demonstrates that low cost energy storage is not a constraint to wind and PV deployment for most of the world. Understanding this helps overcome a key barrier to continued deployment of variable renewables.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	270-284
Number of pages	15
Journal	Joule
Volume	5
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2020.11.015
Publication status	Published - 20 Jan 2021

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10.1016/j.joule.2020.11.015

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title = "Global Atlas of Closed-Loop Pumped Hydro Energy Storage",

abstract = "Wind turbines and solar photovoltaic (PV) collectors dominate new electricity capacity additions. Wind and solar PV are variable generators requiring storage to support large fractions of total generation. Pumped hydro energy storage is the largest, lowest cost, and most technically mature electrical storage technology. However, new river-based hydroelectric systems face substantial social and environmental opposition, and sites are scarce, leading to an assumption that pumped hydro has similar limited potential. Closed-loop pumped hydro storage located away from rivers (“off-river”) overcomes the problem of finding suitable sites. We have undertaken a thorough global analysis identifying 616,000 systems, available on a free government online platform. This immense pumped hydro resource demonstrates that low cost energy storage is not a constraint to wind and PV deployment for most of the world. Understanding this helps overcome a key barrier to continued deployment of variable renewables.",

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AB - Wind turbines and solar photovoltaic (PV) collectors dominate new electricity capacity additions. Wind and solar PV are variable generators requiring storage to support large fractions of total generation. Pumped hydro energy storage is the largest, lowest cost, and most technically mature electrical storage technology. However, new river-based hydroelectric systems face substantial social and environmental opposition, and sites are scarce, leading to an assumption that pumped hydro has similar limited potential. Closed-loop pumped hydro storage located away from rivers (“off-river”) overcomes the problem of finding suitable sites. We have undertaken a thorough global analysis identifying 616,000 systems, available on a free government online platform. This immense pumped hydro resource demonstrates that low cost energy storage is not a constraint to wind and PV deployment for most of the world. Understanding this helps overcome a key barrier to continued deployment of variable renewables.

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Global Atlas of Closed-Loop Pumped Hydro Energy Storage

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