Pumped hydro energy storage to support 100% renewable electricity

Andrew Blakers, Bin Lu, Matt Stocks, Kirsten Anderson, Anna Nadolny

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

    19 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Pumped hydro constitutes about 97% of all energy storage. We found 22,000 off-river pumped hydro sites in Australia with energy storage potential of 67 Terawatt hours, which is about 150 times more than required to support a 100% renewable electricity grid. We modelled a 100% renewable electricity system for Australia and found that the cost of balancing (over and above the cost of PV and wind generation) is only about US20/MWh, comprising pumped hydro storage, additional interstate transmission and spillage of PV and wind. Initial site searching of other countries is underway. The USA probably has 100-1000 times more sites than needed to support a 100% renewable electricity grid.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publication2018 IEEE 7th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, WCPEC 2018 - A Joint Conference of 45th IEEE PVSC, 28th PVSEC and 34th EU PVSEC
    PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
    Pages3672-3675
    Number of pages4
    ISBN (Electronic)9781538685297
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 26 Nov 2018
    Event7th IEEE World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, WCPEC 2018 - Waikoloa Village, United States
    Duration: 10 Jun 201815 Jun 2018

    Publication series

    Name2018 IEEE 7th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, WCPEC 2018 - A Joint Conference of 45th IEEE PVSC, 28th PVSEC and 34th EU PVSEC

    Conference

    Conference7th IEEE World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, WCPEC 2018
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    CityWaikoloa Village
    Period10/06/1815/06/18

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