Post by soumyasarkar59 on Feb 17, 2024 7:01:11 GMT -5
Seasonal pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHEA), an established but rarely used technology, could be an affordable and sustainable solution for storing energy and water on an annual scale, according to new IIASA research published in the journal Nature Communications . Compared to other mature storage solutions, such as natural gas, the study shows that AEEH has considerable potential to provide highly competitive energy storage costs. “The energy sectors of most countries are undergoing a transition towards renewable energy sources, particularly wind and solar generation,” says Julian Hunt, IIASA postdoc , lead author of the study. “These sources are intermittent and have seasonal variations, so they need storage alternatives to ensure that demand can be met at any time. Short-term energy storage solutions with batteries are underway to solve intermittency problems, however, the alternative long-term energy storage that is generally considered to solve seasonal variations in electricity generation is hydrogen, which “It is not yet economically competitive.
Seasonal storage of pumped hydropower means pumping water into a deep storage reservoir, built parallel to a main river, at times of high water flow or low power demand. When water is scarce or energy demand increases, stored water is released from the reservoir to generate electricity. The new study is the first to provide a high-resolution global analysis of the potential and costs of AEEH technology. In their analysis, the researchers evaluated the theoretical global potential to store energy and water seasonally with AEEH, focusing on locations with the highest Cell Phone Number List potential and lowest cost. They also analyzed different scenarios in which energy and water storage with SPHS could be a viable alternative. The study included topographic, river network and hydrological data, infrastructure cost estimation and project design optimization, to identify technically feasible candidate sites. The new study shows that water storage costs with AEEH plants vary from 0.007 to 0.2 US$/m3, long-term energy storage costs vary from 1.8 to 50 US$/MWh and energy storage costs a short term vary from 370 to 600 US$/KW of installed power generation capacity, taking into account the costs of dams, tunnels, turbines, generators, excavations and land.
The estimated global energy storage potential below a cost of $50/MWh is 17.3 PWh, which is approximately 79% of global electricity consumption in 2017. The researchers found that there is significant potential for seasonal storage of pumped hydropower around the world, particularly in the lower Himalayas, the Andes, the Alps, the Rocky Mountains, the northern part of the Middle East, the highlands of Ethiopia, the highlands of Brazil, Central America, East Asia, Papua New Guinea, the Sayan, Yablonoi and Stanovoy mountain ranges in Russia, as well as other places with less potential. "Concerns about the intermittency and seasonality of wind and solar energy may be valid, but they are also sometimes exaggerated," says IIASA researcher Edward Byers, co-author of the study. «This study demonstrates that there is extremely high potential for the use of seasonal storage of pumped hydropower in much of the world, providing a readily available, affordable and sustainable solution to support the transition to sustainable energy systems and overcome real barriers and perceived for high proportions of renewable generation. The study also addresses some of the potential environmental concerns related to hydropower.
