Pumpspeicherkraftwerke

Study of the drivers and asset management of pumped-storage power plants historical and geographical perspective

“…At the same time, the price difference between peak and off-peak electricity prices has melted from 5 to 6 V/MWh in 2010 down to 1e2 in 2015, impacting drastically on the attractiveness of arbitrage. This has severely impacted the profitability of those many European PSP plants that have relied on this lucrative market for decades [71]. It is to be highlighted that PSP can only access this profit if the correct market conditions are in place [72].…”

“…To avoid having to rely on fossil-based standing reserves to back-up intermittent wind power generation, Germany would need over 100 times its electricity storage capacity of 2008 in order to bridge a 10-day period of low wind in 2050 [85]. While the PSP potential in Germany has long been thought nearly exhausted, a long list of new projects has nonetheless emerged, which includes new opportunities such as underground PSP in coal mines [71]. Close to 5 GW for feasible new sites [86,17] and up to 0.8 TWh of realizable energy storage potential could be achievable [67], which however remains significantly below the estimated needs that amount to 50 TWh [66].…”

Interdisciplinary Reservoir Management—A Tool for Sustainable Water Resources Management

“…A direct consequence of active reservoir management to produce hydropower energy on demand are resulting water level changes that may provoke conflict, especially if there is recreational and, or an environment with nature conservation status present [163]. As hydropower production will lead to water level changes within the reservoir but also downstream, recreational facilities on the shore, nature protection areas or downstream riparian floodplains will be subject to drastic water level changes thereby impede full flexibility [164,165] and the management needs to address all hydrological requirements in the catchment area. Pump storage power plants are systems, where not only water from the catchment is collected within the reservoir, but also water from different origins can be pumped into the reservoir.…”

“…Pump storage power plants are systems, where not only water from the catchment is collected within the reservoir, but also water from different origins can be pumped into the reservoir. However, if pumping introduces water from a different catchment into the reservoir it may lead to challenges e.g., in respect to nutrient content [165] (see Section 3.3). If the reservoir is part of a profitable touristic system, these interests may play a major role in the management of the reservoir.…”