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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Impact of Quaternary Pumped Storage Hydropower on Frequency Response of U.S. Western Interconnection with High Renewable Penetrations

As renewable penetration increases in the United States, maintaining stability and reliability of low-inertia power grid by providing sufficient frequency control capability becomes a challenge. Advanced pumped storage hydro technologies (APSH) will be expected to play an important role for future grid as not only an energy supplier, but also as an ancillary services provider. This paper studies the impact of using quaternary pumped storage hydropower (Q-PSH), as one of the newly proposed APSH technology, to provide primary frequency response. To quantify the impact of Q-PSH on frequency response of the U.S. Western Interconnection, a user-defined dynamic model of Q-PSH is developed on the GE Positive Sequence Load Flow (PSLF) platform and is implemented in a set of detailed U.S. Western Electricity Coordination Council (WECC) planning cases in which renewable penetration levels are 20%, 40%, 60% and 80%. Simulation results show that Q-PSH can help improve frequency nadir and settling frequency comparing to the conventional PSH.

frequency response↗
DOE OSTI2026

Pumped Storage Hydropower Operation & Maintenance Cost Estimation

The National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) develops and hosts a pumped storage hydropower (PSH) cost model that is the most detailed bottom-up PSH cost model available to the public. It is available both as a spreadsheet and an interactive web tool, enabling users with a variety of PSH interests to transparently characterize costs of alternative PSH sites and designs. The NLR PSH cost model was designed originally to consider only upfront capital costs only. This slide deck describes methodology to expand the cost model to include operations and maintenance (OM) costs. OM costs are characterized as five distinct components with unique sources and methods for cost estimation. By combining methods for each of these components into a cumulative OM cost estimate, these methods allow a more complete estimation of total OM costs that agrees with existing literature values. The methods are scalable and transparent, allowing them to be readily to applied to any prospective PSH facility for a representative preliminary OM cost estimate in advance of detailed site-specific engineering and other studies.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Prospects for Pumped Storage Hydropower in Alaska

Key Takeaways: The resource mapping analysis confirmed that numerous locations in Alaska are suitable for the development of pumped storage hydropower (PSH) projects, both larger grid scale projects and smaller projects that could be suitable for remote communities; The resource assessment for larger, grid-scale projects showed the potential for more than 1,800 closed-loop systems in Alaska, with a total energy storage capacity of about 4 terawatt hours (TWh); Because of their small reservoir sizes and dam heights, many locations were identified as potentially suitable for small-scale PSH systems. Nearly 50% of the identified potentially suitable small-scale PSH sites are in Southeast Alaska; PSH candidate sites were part of the optimal capacity expansion solution in all scenarios analyzed for the Railbelt system. Depending on the scenario, the new PSH capacity that the model selected for the analysis period until 2046 ranged from 300 MW to 600 MW. The locations and timing of new PSH investments vary in different scenarios; Lithium-ion batteries were also selected a source of new generating capacity in all analyzed scenarios for the Railbelt system, indicating that the system will need a mix of short- and long-duration energy storage to support variable renewable energy sources and provide system reliability in the future; For rural communities, analysis results showed that PSH suitability is very site-specific; in addition to diesel fuel costs and PSH capital costs, suitability depends heavily on available renewable resources and existing infrastructure (e.g., reservoirs, transmission access and construction road access); The analysis for rural communities also showed that PSH projects with 10-hour energy storage are likely to be more economical for remote community applications in Alaska than those with larger reservoirs that could provide 10 days of energy storage; Lithium-ion batteries seem to be an economically more viable energy storage option for small, remote communities in Alaska.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Reservoir Lining for Pumped Storage Hydropower: Scoping Study of Geomembrane Lining Systems

This report summarizes the results of a scoping study performed to research the use of geomembrane lining systems for pumped storage hydropower (PSH) reservoirs. The study consisted of a literature review for pertinent and publicly available information about geomembrane lining materials and their use in dams, reservoirs, and PSH as well as an assessment of the applicability of geomembrane lining systems to PSH reservoirs.

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DOE OSTI2023

Hybrid renewable pumped storage hydropower energy storage system

A pumped storage hydroelectric system may include a reservoir system including an upper reservoir system and a lower reservoir system. At least one of the upper reservoir system and the lower reservoir system may include a modular reservoir arrangement. A penstock may be coupled with the upper reservoir system. A pump/turbine may be coupled with the penstock and with the lower reservoir system. The pump/turbine may be configured to receive water flowing from the upper reservoir system to the lower reservoir system for generating electrical power, and to pump water from the lower reservoir system to the upper reservoir system for storing energy.

Medina, Hector Eduardo↗
DOE OSTI2021

Secured Reserve Scheduling of Pumped-Storage Hydropower Plants in ISO Day-ahead Market

Due to the fast response ability and high ramping rates, pumped-storage hydropower (PSH) plants are playing an increasingly critical role in mitigating power generation fluctuations induced by the growing proliferation of renewable energy resources. However, because they are energy-limited resources, actual reserve deployment from PSHs would cause the deviation of state-of-charge (SOC) from the scheduled value, which, once accumulated over time, could induce potential violations on SOC limits and cause non-dispatchability of PSHs. In recognizing this potential issue, it can become important to securing the reserve schedule of PSHs and other energy limited resources preventively in the day-ahead market clearing. To ensure reserve dispatchability of PSHs despite SOC deviations, this paper proposes the reserve secure constraints, which are cast as a distributionally robust chance-constrained formulation by judiciously introducing random parameters to describe deployment ratios of scheduled regulation reserve from PSHs. Furthermore, these constraints are converted into tractable second-order cone constraints, and further approximated as linear constraints to be compatible with the current ISO day-ahead market clearing model. A modified IEEE 118-bus system with multiple PSHs is adopted to verify the proposed approach.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Hybridization Assessment of Trybrid Pumped Storage Hydropower System—Part 1: A Case Study of Corral Summit

This report is a part of the deliverables for technical assistance provided to Cat Creek Energy for the Coral Summit Trybrid (Triple Hybrid-Pumped Storage Hydropower, Battery Energy Storage System, and photovoltaic solar energy) energy project. This report explores the operational benefits and challenges of hybridizing an open loop PSH (200MW) located at Mackay, Custer County, Idaho with solar PV (Ground mount 300MW and floating 40MW) and battery (720MWhr). This document reports two activities performed as a part of the hybridization assessment task 1) optimal resource allocation and energy management strategy, and 2) power quality and reliability assessment. From optimal resource allocation and energy management strategy (activity 1), the following key findings can be observed: • Conventional PSH (CPSH) with two reversible pump turbines and separate penstocks can provide required flexibility equivalent to that from two ternary PSH with separate penstock. With single unit CPSH, upper reservoir head cannot be maintained accurately, the variation of water level is rapid and pump mode flexibility is not available. These disadvantages can be overcome by single unit TPSH. However, using two CPSH units with separate penstocks also overcome these disadvantages with the formation of the hydraulic short circuit between two conventional units. • Flooding of the lower reservoir is a severe concern when considering continuous operation for black start. This limits the duration of continuous operation from PSH alone to around 50 hours. Due to the complementary PV and battery action, the duration of continuous operation and smooth power output can be extended. • An optimization problem is framed that maximizes the power output on an hourly basis while minimizing constraint violations and respecting seasonal variations of solar PV and load profiles . Two value streams, arbitrage and baseload generation are served by this profile. It was uncovered that for smooth power output during regular operation, PV curtailment will be required, or the battery capacity needs to be increased above 90MW to accommodate additional PV. From power quality and reliability assessment (activity 2) the following takeaway points can be observed: • The Trybrid, when integrated at the Lost River bus, and limited to 250MW in generation mode and -150MW in the pump mode, causes no violation of voltage or flow.

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DOE OSTI2024

Opportunities for Pumped Storage Hydropower under the Inflation Reduction Act [Slides]

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) creates significant incentives for clean energy technologies including pumped storage hydropower (PSH). The investment tax credit (ITC) is expected to sunset in 2033 (or later). This decade-long window of opportunity can accommodate the lead times typically necessary for developing PSH. The ITC for PSH likely ranges from 6%-50%. Portions of the ITC are spatially dependent. 22 states have the potential for deployment of PSH at a feasible site with the maximum ITC of 50%, based on currently defined areas under the energy community tax credit bonus. Regions including the central Rockies, Appalachia and the California-Nevada border have especially high combined potential for site feasibility and ITC.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Pumped Storage Hydropower (PSH) FAST Commissioning Prize Technical Analysis

The US energy landscape has undergone major changes over the past 10 years and will continue to see significant changes in future decades as the power grid increases its reliance on variable renewable energy resources. Because of the inherent variability of these resources, renewable energy growth may require additional energy storage capacity to provide flexible load-following capabilities and other grid services that can quickly adjust to changes in energy demand and generation. Pumped storage hydropower (PSH)—one such energy storage technology—uses pumps to convey water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir for energy storage and releases water back to the lower reservoir via a powerhouse for hydropower generation. PSH facility pump and generation cycling often follows economic and energy demand conditions. Across the United States, 43 PSH facilities are in operation and 55 projects are in various permitting or licensing stages. Altogether, the 43 operational projects provide the wide majority (95%) of utility-scale electricity storage in the United States. These facilities also provide significant power and nonpower grid benefits, including large-scale electrical system reserve capacity, grid reliability support, and electricity supply-demand balancing through quick-response capabilities and operational flexibility. PSH systems can accomplish these at a scale (e.g., size) and cost that makes these systems highly attractive from a technical standpoint. Although these research concepts are still in their infancy, they demonstrate promising potential as future PSH energy storage technologies. Although PSH has many advantages, development in the United States has effectively stalled since the 1990s, partially because of the magnitude of project costs and financing interest during development and construction, the length of time from project investment until project revenue begins, permitting challenges, construction risks, competition from other storage technologies (e.g., batteries, hydrogen storage), and electricity market evolution and uncertainty. In short, the time, cost, and risk associated with modern PSH development have resulted in limited growth in the United States recently, despite the growing energy storage demand stemming from increased wind and solar power deployment. Technology innovation is needed to help reduce PSH commissioning time, cost, and risk, particularly during the post-licensing phase of project development. To address challenges facing the PSH industry and to improve PSH commissioning timelines, the US Department of Energy (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) initiated the PSH Furthering Advancements to Shorten Time to (FAST) Commissioning Prize project.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Pumped Storage Hydropower Valuation Guidebook: A Cost-Benefit and Decision Analysis Valuation Framework

As an energy storage technology, pumped storage hydropower (PSH) supports various aspects of power system operations. However, determining the value of PSH plants and their many services and contributions to the system has been a challenge. While there is a general understanding that PSH resources provide many services and benefits for the operation of power systems, estimating the value of these services—and especially the monetary value of some of those services—has been a challenge. The objective of this project, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), is to advance the state of the art in assessing the value of PSH plants and their contributions to the power system. The specific goal is to develop detailed, step-by-step valuation guidance that PSH developers, plant owners or operators, and other stakeholders can use to assess the value of existing or potential new PSH plants and their services. The specific goals of this project are: (1) to develop comprehensive and transparent valuation guidance that will support consistent valuation assessments and comparisons of PSH projects or project design alternatives, (2) to test the PSH valuation guidance and its underlying methodology by applying it to two selected PSH projects, and (3) to transfer and disseminate the PSH valuation guidance to the hydropower industry, PSH developers, and other stakeholders. The authors believe that the application of a consistent, transparent, and repeatable valuation process will advance valuation assessments and allow stakeholders to compare valuation analyses performed for different PSH projects or design alternatives. It will also increase the acceptance of valuation results and enable better understanding of the true value that PSH technology brings to the grid.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Corral Summit Pumped Storage Hydropower Hybrid: Site Suitability Assessment

In 2024, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) initiated a technical-assistance project to support Cat Creek Energy, LLC, (CCE) in evaluating site suitability for the proposed Corral Summit Pumped Storage Hydropower (PSH) project in south-central Idaho near Mackay Reservoir. The Corral Summit facility incorporates battery storage and photovoltaic (PV) solar arrays in a Trybrid configuration to deliver large-volume long-duration (LVLD) storage solutions for rural electric cooperatives in eastern Idaho. The evaluation process focused on determining the most-suitable location for the upper reservoir of the PSH system, guided by a comprehensive assessment framework spanning multiple categories, including physical characteristics, environmental constraints, building infrastructure, regulatory constraints, cultural resources and sensitivity, social factors, and power market and grid integration. Each site was analyzed based on a ranking scale (0–1), which scores ranging from “severely disfavored” to “highly favored,” allowing detailed comparisons of site-specific conditions. Categories such as hydraulic head, utilities corridor, land ownership, and transmission-grid limitations emerged as key contributors to the overall assessment. Site 2 (Idaho Trust) demonstrated a slight advantage over Site 1 (Bureau of Land Management) primarily due to favorable outcomes in regulatory constraints, building infrastructure, and power-market integration. However, Site 1 outperformed Site 2 in factors related to physical characteristics and social factors. The report emphasizes the need for further evaluation of both sites before clear determination of which site is preferred, due to the limited information available on either site at the time of this report. Key areas of evaluation to clearly define the preferred site are ecological impacts, cultural-resource surveys, and economic-feasibility assessments. For successful project execution, recommended follow-up actions include seismic and geotechnical surveys, groundwater and habitat monitoring, regulatory reviews of water rights and right-of-way agreements, cultural engagement with local tribal governments, and enhanced stakeholder strategies. These efforts will ensure the Corral Summit Trybrid facility meets local energy needs while balancing environmental, social, and regulatory responsibilities.

13 - HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Corral Summit Pumped Storage Hydropower Hybrid Site Suitability Assessment (Rev.1)

In 2024, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) initiated a technical-assistance project to support Cat Creek Energy, LLC, (CCE) in evaluating site suitability for the proposed Corral Summit Pumped Storage Hydropower (PSH) project in south-central Idaho near Mackay Reservoir. The Corral Summit facility incorporates battery storage and photovoltaic (PV) solar arrays in a Trybrid configuration to deliver large-volume long-duration (LVLD) storage solutions for rural electric cooperatives in eastern Idaho. The evaluation process focused on determining the most-suitable location for the upper reservoir of the PSH system, guided by a comprehensive assessment framework spanning multiple categories, including physical characteristics, environmental constraints, building infrastructure, regulatory constraints, cultural resources and sensitivity, social factors, and power market and grid integration. Each site was analyzed based on a ranking scale (0–1), which scores ranging from “severely disfavored” to “highly favored,” allowing detailed comparisons of site-specific conditions. Categories such as hydraulic head, utilities corridor, land ownership, and transmission-grid limitations emerged as key contributors to the overall assessment. Site 2 (Idaho Trust) demonstrated a slight advantage over Site 1 (Bureau of Land Management) primarily due to favorable outcomes in regulatory constraints, building infrastructure, and power-market integration. However, Site 1 outperformed Site 2 in factors related to physical characteristics and social factors. The report emphasizes the need for further evaluation of both sites before clear determination of which site is preferred, due to the limited information available on either site at the time of this report. Key areas of evaluation to clearly define the preferred site are ecological impacts, cultural-resource surveys, and economic-feasibility assessments. For successful project execution, recommended follow-up actions include seismic and geotechnical surveys, groundwater and habitat monitoring, regulatory reviews of water rights and right-of-way agreements, cultural engagement with local tribal governments, and enhanced stakeholder strategies. These efforts will ensure the Corral Summit Trybrid facility meets local energy needs while balancing environmental, social, and regulatory responsibilities.

13 - HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Impact of Quaternary-Pumped Storage Hydropower on Frequency Response of U.S. Western Interconnection with High Renewable Penetrations: Preprint

As renewable penetration increases in the United States, maintaining stability and reliability of low-inertia power grid by providing sufficient frequency control capability becomes a challenge. Advanced pumped storage hydro technologies (APSH) will be expected to play an important role for future grid as not only an energy supplier, but also as an ancillary services provider. This paper studies the impact of using quaternary pumped storage hydropower (Q-PSH), as one of the newly proposed APSH technology, to provide primary frequency response. To quantify the impact of Q-PSH on frequency response of the U.S. Western Interconnection, a user-defined dynamic model of Q-PSH is developed on the GE Positive Sequence Load Flow (PSLF) platform and is implemented in a set of detailed U.S. Western Electricity Coordination Council (WECC) planning cases in which renewable penetration levels are 20%, 40%, 60% and 80%. Simulation results show that Q-PSH can help improve frequency nadir and settling frequency comparing to the conventional PSH.

frequency response↗
DOE OSTI2020

Cost Estimation of a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine for Use in Adjustable Speed-Pumped Storage Hydropower

Electric machine design has become an easier process with the availability of computers in recent decades. However, the interest in electric machine design among students has declined. University-level design courses must compete with courses perceived as more desirable by the potential job market. Hence, the power system engineers with this expertise are very few and are nearing retirement. Contrarily, renewable energy has been picking up in the past few decades. The indeterminacy and variation of renewable energy sources require a balancing mechanism to maintain the constant voltage and frequency of the grid. Adjustable-Speed Pumped-Storage Hydropower plants are considered the contender for future energy storage, providing large capacity and fast-acting response. Large-scale hydropower applications depend on the natural characteristics of each project site, making less expensive, off-the-shelf generators unfeasible. This work gives a shortcut to estimate the cost of constructing a permanent magnet generator for low-volume manufacturing.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Pumped Storage Hydropower Augmented with Pressurized Air: The Ground-Level Integrated Diverse Energy Storage (GLIDES) System — GLIDES System Configurations and Use Cases

Energy storage is essential for cost-effective integration of variable renewable energy sources to support a low-carbon grid. It is also a key enabler of a modern grid infrastructure for demand management. However, several main challenges remain for different kind of energy storage technologies in grid scale deployment. Currently, the largest source of utility-scale storage and long-duration storage in the US is pumped storage hydropower (PSH). Prospect of growth in conventional PSH faces challenges that have limited its deployment over the last three decades, including high capital costs and long deployment timelines. Batteries have high energy densities and are the primary technology of choice for small-scale energy storage. Compressed air energy storage (CAES) is another large-scale energy storage technology, but there are few plants deployed worldwide. They suffer from their low round trip efficiency (RTE) due to the use of high-pressure air compressors. To address some of the challenges associated with these various storage technologies, the Ground-Level Integrated Diverse Energy Storage (GLIDES) is a modular PSH technology that was invented in 2015 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It utilizes gas compression to store electric energy. GLIDES stores energy by compressing gas using a liquid piston in high-pressure vessels. In doing so the vessels act as the upper reservoir in conventional PSH. Initially, the vessels are filled with gas to a prescribed pressure. To store energy, GLIDES uses a hydraulic piston pump to pump water into the pressurized vessels. As the water volume increases inside the vessels, water acts as a hydraulic piston compressing the gas on top of it. This process can be thought of as pumping water from the lower reservoir to the higher reservoir in PSH, increasing the water head. To dispatch the stored energy, the high-head water in the vessel is discharge through a high head Pelton hydraulic turbine that is connected to an electric generator. Employing high-pressure vessels enables GLIDES to reach water heads ~10-80 times higher than conventional PSH, achieving ~40 times higher energy densities, and overcomes the geographic limitation of conventional PSH. Although its energy density is much lower than that of batteries, GLIDES holds the potential advantages of having long service life, ease of system integration and being less hazardous over batteries. GLIDES prospective scalability could make it suitable for wide range of applications from behind the meter storage in buildings to grid-scale storage. It also makes it suitable for installations in densely populated urban areas where energy storage is most needed and real estate is limited. Over the last 5 years, work has focused on increasing GLIDES’ energy density, decreasing its initial capital cost of the system, and increasing its revenue potential. Several designs were developed and prototyped to verify and demonstrate the improvement in energy density. The latest prototype achieved energy density of 1.21 kWh/m 3 . Our analysis showed that it could achieve up to 1.7 kWh/m 3 with a mixture of air and carbon dioxide as the gas being compressed.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Challenges and Opportunities for Electric Utility Modeling and Asset Valuation Frameworks: Case Study on Valuing New Pumped Storage Hydropower

Asset valuation by electric utilities is becoming increasingly difficult in the rapidly changing electric sector. Rapid deployment of variable generation and inverter-based storage systems along with uncertain demand growth, climate, policies, and other factors create a challenging environment for understanding the value proposition of a new potential asset. This report describes an effort between the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and three U.S. Department of Energy laboratories to perform a detailed review of utility modeling and analysis practices for asset valuation and identify challenges and opportunities for advancing its methods into the future. It focuses on a case study of new potential pumped storage hydropower (PSH) because of growing interest in new PSH capacity to provide energy balancing, firm capacity, and a range of ancillary services. Staff from the DOE labs conducted systematic interviews about current practices in capacity expansion modeling, production-cost modeling, hydrological modeling, and transmission stability modeling while also discussing how scenario analysis is conducted and how models and data are integrated. The effort resulted in a set of model, integration, and scenario recommendations that could be valuable to TVA, other utilities, system operators, and other stakeholders conducting integrated grid analysis. Individual model recommendations suggest exploring computational tradeoffs with detail and resolution across spatiotemporal structure, supply- and demand-side details, transmission overlays, market interactions, and ancillary services. Automated processes to pass data between models and conduct larger scenario suites could also enhance valuation practices by enabling a more consistent study of asset value across a broader range of uncertain future grid conditions where PSH could be particularly valuable. TVA and other industry stakeholders can learn from and adapt applied research-grade methods developed by DOE laboratories and other research institutions to improve decision making and accelerate progress towards a reliable, economic, sustainable energy system.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Pumped Storage Hydropower FAST Commissioning Technical Analysis

This report was developed in tandem with the Furthering Advancements to Shorten Time (FAST) to Commissioning PSH Challenge and represents the underlying technical analysis that informed the competition. Lead by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the report is designed to address barriers and solutions to PSH development by establishing baseline project development knowledge, defining key aspects of project development, and identifying opportunities to reduce project timelines, costs, and risks. The document’s scope includes post-licensing activities and excludes factors related to permitting or licensing.

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