A generic GIS-based method for small Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) potential evaluation at large scale

Abstract

. A generic GIS-based method for small Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) potential evaluation at large scale. Applied Energy, Elsevier, 2017, 197, pp.241 -253 AbstractThe increasing share of weather-dependent renewable energies in power systems creates a need for energy storage technologies to reduce the impacts of variable production. The most mature technology to store energy on the grid remains Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES). The potential of high-energy sites has already been assessed in Europe by the EU JRC, considering mostly dams and reservoirs from global European databases which include only massive water bodies. This paper focuses on estimating the potential for small-PHES, proven to have lower environmental impact and an positive impact on grid balance and reliability. A generic method is designed, able to evaluate a global PHES storage capacity at large scale. It considers both existing lakes and natural depressions suitable to be filled for PHES purposes. The volume of filled lakes is estimated using the surrounding topography. The method is organized so that the "heavy" calculations, i.e. sink detection, volume evaluation, constraints verification etc. are run only once. Consequently, the actual potential estimation phase only includes fast calculations and can be integrated in a loop for carrying out a sensitivity analysis. The proposed method is then applied considering France as a test case. Suitable environmental, land-use and structural constraints are applied to eliminate irrelevant sites. The analysis leads to an estimated value of the small-PHES potential in France, which ranges from 14 GWh when only existing lakes are considered to 33 GWh when lakes and depressions are considered. These estimations represent respectively 8% and 18% of the current hydro storage capacity in France. Thanks to a global sensitivity analysis, factors like the maximum distance between lakes, the maximum altitude of the sites, and the distance to the electrical grid are shown to have the most influence on the global evaluated potential, which is further sensitized. Lastly, another application is suggested that makes it possible to select the connections to be built first within a restricted area, based on a cost-per-energy-like approach. It uses the connections between reservoirs detected at large geographical scale.

Monitoring hydropower reliability in Malawi with satellite data and machine learning

“…A recent study highlighted that currently 60 MW of techno-economic potential are available in the country [59], mostly localised in sites in the southern part of the country [60]. The co-integration of VRE with hydro, in particular when reservoir-based schemes will become operational, offers potential benefit in terms of increasing resilience of the power sector and balancing both renewables intermittency and hydropower output fluctuations, as evidenced in the literature [61][62][63][64][65]. This would also alleviate the need for importing coal from Mozambique, or, possibly, natural gas from Tanzania, and thus guarantee supply self-sufficiency and a cleaner power sector.…”

An Extended VIKOR-Based Approach for Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Plant Site Selection with Heterogeneous Information

“…It is noteworthy that, in 2016, China's total installed capacity of wind power and solar power both ranked first in the world. However, at the same time, the phenomenon of power curtailment is becoming increasingly prominent since wind and solar energy are characterized by volatility and intermittency [1]. This kind of phenomenon has brought humans huge economic loss and restricted the development of renewable energy.…”

“…Although a lot of forms of energy storage technology have been developed, the PHES technology accounted for the energy storage of absolute dominance. PHES is now one of the most mature and cost-effective technologies since water lifting devices have been invented, used, and improved by humans, for thousands of years [1]. This technique uses electricity produced by other power stations to pump water up to the upper reservoir when the energy demand is low, and release the water back down to the lower reservoir to generate electricity when the energy demand is high [3].…”

“…Rogeau et al [1] proposed a generic method able to evaluate the potential of small-PHESP over a large geographical zone. Gimeno-Gutierrez and Lacal-Arantegui [4] assessed a PHESP potential based on two existing reservoirs in Europe by developing and applying a GIS-based software model.…”

Global resource potential of seasonal pumped hydropower storage for energy and water storage

“…To understand the potential that SPHS can fulfil in future energy storage requirements, in this paper, we present the first comprehensive and globally consistent assessment of SPHS potential. It presents the results from the SPHS world potential model, which is an upgrade of the methods that have been used for estimating global hydropower potential [16][17][18][19][20][21] . One recent study investigates the global potential for PHS and assumes the construction of two reservoirs in a closed loop for daily and weekly operation.…”