Pumped hydropower storage welcomes a trillion-dollar opportunity

What is future energy pumped hydro?

Future energy pumped hydro provides storage for hours to weeks and is overwhelmingly dominant in terms of both existing storage power capacity and storage energy volume.

What is pumped hydro energy storage?

The pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) is a well-established and commercially-acceptable technology for utility-scale electricity storage and has been used since as early as the 1890s.

How are pumped hydro energy storage sites ranked?

All sites that meet the criteria are then ranked into cost classes A through E (with E double the capital cost of A) and three-dimensional (3D) visualization developed. Our analysis has identified 616,818 low cost closed-loop, off-river pumped hydro energy storage sites with a combined storage potential of 23.1 million GWh.

Is pumped storage hydropower the world's water battery?

Below are some of the paper's key messages and findings. Pumped storage hydropower (PSH), 'the world’s water battery’, accounts for over 94% of installed global energy storage capacity, and retains several advantages such as lifetime cost, levels of sustainability and scale.

What is the current installed capacity of pumped storage hydropower?

According to the International Hydropower Association (IHA), PSH is the largest form of renewable energy storage, with an installed capacity of nearly 200 gigawatts. Recent studies suggest there is significant potential for scaling up global pumped hydro capacity, including from more than 600,000 identified off-river sites.

How many GWh does a pumped hydropower storage project store?

In a working paper published today, The World’s Water Battery: Pumped Hydropower Storage and the Clean Energy Transition, IHA also estimates that pumped hydropower storage projects globally now store up to 9,000 gigawatt hours (GWh).