Powerful Facts About Pumped-Hydro Storage

I can’t remember a time when there was so much discussion about the future of our energy system, and to be honest a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding, too.

The fact is, Australia’s energy system is in transition, as the cost of renewable generation— wind and solar — continues to fall and aging thermal generation retires. Large-scale storage will be a prerequisite for Australia to successfully manage the energy transition ahead of us. As more renewables are integrated into the grid, we need to ensure 'firmness' of supply, which is where pumped-hydro storage comes in.

Check out this video to see how the technology works.

When we talk about ‘firming’ in the energy system, there are two things that sit underneath that: security and reliability. Security is about keeping the voltage and the frequency stable and managing intermittency over very short timeframes. Batteries can switch on and off very quickly and you can rapidly build them just about anywhere you like. Reliability is about making sure you've got energy when you need it in the macro sense, i.e. covering dips in solar and wind output for hours, days or even weeks. There’s a useful analogy here: batteries are like cars and pumped-hydro storage facilities are like trucks and an optimal system makes use of both.

One clear point of difference is the asset lifetime: whereas batteries may have a design life of 10-15 years (depending how they're cycled), design lives for pumped-hydro storage plants can reach 100 years, so you're investing in something that will last a long, long time.

This video, with some very cool drone photography, explains how the Limmern Pumped-Storage Plant in Linthal, Switzerland — where more than 60% of the country’s electricity is generated by water — provides flexible natural energy storage which will be critical for the European grid for decades to come.

Bill Armstrong, GE’s regional head of hydro solutions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, was in Australia recently. Bill and Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering at ANU, who this week won a Eureka Prize, spoke with Giles Parkinson from Renew Economy for this podcast about pumped-hydro storage.

Give it a listen for an in-depth, clear and balanced discussion of the pros and cons, where it’s being used today and how it can help underpin a renewable energy future for Australia.