TY - JOUR
T1 - Global resource potential of seasonal pumped hydropower storage for energy and water storage
AU - Hunt, Julian D
AU - Byers, Edward
AU - Wada, Yoshihide
AU - Parkinson, Simon
AU - Gernaat, David E H J
AU - Langan, Simon
AU - van Vuuren, Detlef P
AU - Riahi, Keywan
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Seasonal mismatches between electricity supply and demand is increasing due to expanded use of wind, solar and hydropower resources, which in turn raises the interest on low-cost seasonal energy storage options. Seasonal pumped hydropower storage (SPHS) can provide long-term energy storage at a relatively low-cost and co-benefits in the form of freshwater storage capacity. We present the first estimate of the global assessment of SPHS potential, using a novel plant-siting methodology based on high-resolution topographical and hydrological data. Here we show that SPHS costs vary from 0.007 to 0.2 US$ m-1 of water stored, 1.8 to 50 US$ MWh-1 of energy stored and 370 to 600 US$ kW-1 of installed power generation. This potential is unevenly distributed with mountainous regions demonstrating significantly more potential. The estimated world energy storage capacity below a cost of 50 US$ MWh-1 is 17.3 PWh, approximately 79% of the world electricity consumption in 2017.
AB - Seasonal mismatches between electricity supply and demand is increasing due to expanded use of wind, solar and hydropower resources, which in turn raises the interest on low-cost seasonal energy storage options. Seasonal pumped hydropower storage (SPHS) can provide long-term energy storage at a relatively low-cost and co-benefits in the form of freshwater storage capacity. We present the first estimate of the global assessment of SPHS potential, using a novel plant-siting methodology based on high-resolution topographical and hydrological data. Here we show that SPHS costs vary from 0.007 to 0.2 US$ m-1 of water stored, 1.8 to 50 US$ MWh-1 of energy stored and 370 to 600 US$ kW-1 of installed power generation. This potential is unevenly distributed with mountainous regions demonstrating significantly more potential. The estimated world energy storage capacity below a cost of 50 US$ MWh-1 is 17.3 PWh, approximately 79% of the world electricity consumption in 2017.
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-020-14555-y
DO - 10.1038/s41467-020-14555-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 32075965
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 11
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 947
ER -
