The STORES sites are pairs of reservoirs which are separated by an altitude difference of between 300m-900m and joined by a pipe.
The Atlas of Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Study, which secured $449,000 of funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), aims to unlock new ways to allow renewable energy to provide a larger share of generation to the national electricity grid.
As part of the study, ANU is partnering with ElectraNet and VTara Energy Group to develop a blueprint and cost model to integrate the technology into the electricity grid on national, state and regional levels.
ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said: "This study will help us see just how cheap, efficient and effective pumped hydro systems can be in providing large-scale, reliable, clean energy storage that can feed into the grid on demand, in a range of suitable locations across Australia.”
“The approach uses surplus energy to pump water uphill to a storage reservoir. This water can then be released downhill to generate electricity on demand.
ANU professor Andrew Blakers said the low cost and technical maturity of STORES is expected to allow solar and wind energy to reach more than 50% of penetration levels and push towards 100% renewables.
Blakers added: “Water is constantly flowing between the reservoirs to balance supply and demand, and STORES has the potential to support grid stability through inertial spinning reserve and very fast ramp rates from zero to 100% in minutes.”
The study is scheduled to be completed in June 2018.
Image: Australian National University professor Andrew Blakers. Photo: courtesy of Stuart Hay, ANU.
