pumped hydro

Scientists in Denmark have developed a storage technology that utilizes large underground water balloons and the pressure of the soil to activate a turbine to generate power. They are currently building a first 10 m x 10 m demonstrator to select critical technologies related to the membrane and to the construction of the “movable hill” that will form the terrain part of the battery.

The project is located 10 km from the Baltic Sea, where PGE is planning to build offshore wind farms with a total capacity of 3.5 GW.

A new report recommends a differential pricing mechanism for pumped-hydro energy storage (PHES) projects in pumping (off-peak operation) and generating mode (peak operation).

The government of the Australian state of Queensland has committed AUD 48 million ($33 million) to develop two pumped hydro projects.

Lake Onslow, New Zealand, could become home to one of the world’s largest pumped-hydro storage facilities. A local consortium is now conducting a feasibility study and is investigating possible system designs and precise locations.

Two different studies have highlighted the potential and challenges of low-head pumped hydro storage (PHS), which has so far never been implemented in real projects. Different main areas were identified for future research and an interesting levelized cost of storage was indicated for certain project configurations.

Be Clean Energy emphasized it was its wind power business that was the company’s 2021 success story, even though solar power sales revenue also jumped. Elsewhere, compatriot PV manufacturer Solargiga bounced back into profit last year.

Pumped hydro energy storage is ideally positioned to support reliability and reduce volatility in the energy market as Australia shifts from fossil fuels towards renewable power with former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull labeling the technology the “ultimate long-duration storage” solution.

Jamaica’s prime minister Andrew Holness revealed that an international consortium is planning to build a pumped-hydro storage project that has already secured preliminary approval. The project, which will also include deep-sea desalination, is currently undergoing technical and due-diligence reviews.

The European Commission has given its seal of approval to a government program which will drive an estimated 264 MW of solar and wind capacity across 47 islands while they await connection to the mainland grid.