pumped hydro

The Greek government has published its plan for a post-Covid economic recovery. The strategy aims to mobilize at least €10 billion towards the green energy sector, with the prospect of further EU loans on top.

Construction is expected to commence in the weeks ahead on the massive 250 MW Kidston Pumped Hydro Storage Project in Queensland, as developer Genex Power has announced a $115 million share issue that will deliver the funds for the project to proceed.

EDF and Oceanus plan to build a pumped hydro storage station and a desalination system powered by wind and solar. The system will use saltwater to produce hydropower during periods of high demand, while producing affordable freshwater.

Canadian behemoth Atco has purchased the rights to develop the 325 MW Central West Pumped Storage Hydro Project in Central West New South Wales and credits the investment to policy certainty from the NSW Government. As a significant firming agent the project is ideally placed in the state’s proposed Central West-Orana Renewable Energy Zone.

A proposed 400 MW pumped-hydro storage project is on track to become the first of its kind in more than three decades in Queensland, Australia. GE Renewable Energy is backing the plan.

Australian researchers have identified more than 600,000 sites suitable for closed-loop pumped-hydro energy storage projects across the globe. “Off-river” pumped-hydro is not only able to overcome the typical topographical issues of conventional pumped-hydro but is also cheaper.

European electric transmission company body ENTSO-E has unveiled details of a project to install 11 GWh of electrolyzed hydrogen storage capacity across ten locations around the French capital by the end of the decade.

New South Wales has published a new infrastructure plans that brings together targets and policy adjustments, as the state government strives to retire coal-fired generators and fire up the economy.

In an update to a report it published earlier this year, Norway-headquartered consultancy DNV GL outlined the role it sees for both seasonal heat storage and pumped hydro to help manage the 1.4 TW of variable renewable energy capacity it forecasts to be connected to European electricity grids by 2050. DNV GL maintains the original report’s conclusion that where seasonal storage is concerned, hydrogen will be the first option.

An Ieefa report has suggested the cost of generating electricity from solar will be near zero in the world’s sunniest regions by 2030-40 – despite what the naysayers at the International Energy Agency might think.