Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Pumped hydro storage”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

From Concept to Capital: How Developers Secure Private Investment

With an increased need for funding diversity in hydropower, private capital is becoming more important than ever. Investors are actively seeking opportunities, but what makes a project attractive for investment, and how can companies secure private equity or venture capital backing? This session brings together experts to discuss what capital providers look for in providing financing for hydropower projects. Panelists will explore key barriers - such as the lack of diversified portfolios and long-term revenue certainty - and strategies to overcome them through innovative financing mechanisms, partnerships, and market-driven solutions.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2023

Co-Simulation Model for Optimal Wind-Hydro Coordination Using Wind Farm Control Dynamics

The growing share of Variable Renewable Energy sources (VRES) in power systems presents challenges for regula- tors, grid operators and energy producers. The VRES’ operation has limited flexibility in their operations, as they are highly dependent on ambient environments. To address these challenges, decision-makers must consider multiple objectives, among these are revenue, power system services and mechanical load on wind turbines. Coordinated operation of power plants and different wind farm control strategies are examples of measures that can benefit these objectives. This study proposes a Multi-Objective Linear Programming (MOLP) model to simulate the optimum operation of wind and hydropower plants that share limited transmission capacity. Further, wind farm control dynamics are included to obtain realistic output power and accumulated damage. From this, a case study based on a relevant location in Norway is presented to analyze the improved effect of wind- hydro coordination and wind farm control in achieving the objectives of accumulated wind turbine damage and total revenue of the hybrid power system. In addition, the study considers the potential advantages of adding a variable-speed pump to the hydropower plant. The results demonstrate that by considering multiple objectives in the optimization, one may achieve better overall performance of the objectives. By utilizing the flexibility of hydro storage, the decision maker may adjust to obtain the most desired outcome. Moreover, the added flexibility of utilizing a pump for hydro storage shows great improvements for the combined revenue of the power plants and reduced curtailment of the wind farm. However, less impact is observed from using a variable speed pump compared to a fixed speed pump.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Combined Cycle Integrated Thermal Energy Storage “CiTES” (Final Scientific/Technical Report)

The Phase I of this project confirmed the technical feasibility of a Combined Cycle integrated Thermal Energy Storage “CiTES” system, calculated the key performance parameters like power efficiency and costs, and proved its commercial value with full-year simulations for several US electricity markets with high degree of variable renewable generation and volatile hourly electricity prices. The core element of this project is the Electro Thermal Energy Storage (ETES) technology from Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy GmbH, using thermally stable and inexpensive volcanic rocks as storage material and air as heat transfer medium. This technology is backed by more than 10 years of experience and a 440MMBTU (130MWh-th) pilot plant in Hamburg, Germany, which is in operation since 2019. The integration of this thermal storage in an existing combined cycle power plant (CCPP) is typical power plant technology without any major technology risks. It allows the storage of inexpensive renewable energy during times of surplus renewable generation and the discharge of this energy in times of high energy demand when the fossil plant is in operation. This supplements the fossil power generation with CO2-emission-free energy. The secondary effect of the CiTES system is that a small part of the stored thermal energy is used to keep the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) and steam turbine (ST) of the combined cycle power plant in hot and ready-to-start condition. This enables the plant to start rapidly when fossil generation is required to satisfy demand as soon variable generation drops off in the evenings or during cloud cover and calm wind periods. Without pre-warming of the HRSG and ST, the CCPP would need several hours for a cold or warm start, burn a lot of gas and release high NOx emissions during start and wouldn’t be able to use the short times of high energy prices in an efficient or economical manner. The economic parameters of CiTES were determined by a full year “8760” simulation using a data set calculation for each of the hours of the year, and historical electricity and gas prices. For consistency, the simulations were focused on the pre-COVID year 2019. The financially most attractive markets were in the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region, which allowed substantial value generation with arbitrage (charge with cheap energy during renewable surplus times and discharge when energy is needed and expensive). The improvement of flexibility with the CiTES system by pre-heating and warm-keeping of the CCPP allowed for additional power generation during short time periods when demand is high but renewable generation is down; when the hourly energy prices are highest in these markets. The simulations are based on 2019 data, when ERCOT had 27GW of installed photovoltaic (PV) and wind generation. They showed that the created revenue with the prototypically sized CiTES system of 1,000MMBTU (300MWh-th) falls a little bit short of what is expected from a commercially viable investment. The system has optimization opportunities for cost reduction and increased effectiveness which will be realized during a potential Phase II Pre-FEED study following this project. Furthermore, it is safe to assume that a lot of renewable generation capacity will be added all over the US in the coming years. As an example, ERCOT is predicting to more than double its renewable generation from 27GW in 2019 to a forecasted 63GW in 2023. This will increase the amount of renewable overproduction exponentially. This rapid increase of local overproduction and the need to curtail renewable generation is well documented by the California ISO (www.CAISO.com / managing oversupply). However, the simulations also revealed a weakness in the structure of the electricity markets in the US. More specifically, when electricity prices are very low and approaching negative levels, the owners of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) will curtail a part of their facility to stabilize the price by reducing supply. This results in a situation in which storage facilities, which are integrated in existing fossil assets and don’t have the behind-the-meter benefit of a VRE, won’t be able to purchase low cost – otherwise curtailed – renewable energy off the grid. A special tariff, which motivates VRE owners to sell otherwise curtailed renewable energy to storage facilities (Hydrogen, thermal, pumped hydro, etc.) can solve this issue. The implementation of such a regulating tariff by Independent System Operators, thus avoiding renewable curtailment, is a pre condition for successful commercialization for renewable energy storage technologies. With this advancement of design and technology and improvements in the market environment, it can be expected that the Combined Cycle integrated Thermal Energy Storage proves itself as an important innovation to keep highly efficient, natural gas-based power generation economically successful and relevant for the power industry in the United States of America.

Wolf, Thorsten↗
DOE OSTI2024

Advanced Manufacturing and Materials for Hydropower Strategy

Advanced manufacturing and materials (AMM) are revolutionizing how the energy sector is built, and the hydropower industry stands to benefit greatly from these new opportunities. The mission of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) is to enable research, development, and testing of new technologies to advance marine energy as well as next-generation hydropower and pumped storage systems for a flexible and reliable grid. This strategic plan outlines how WPTO can support AMM technologies for hydropower and pumped storage applications.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Leveraging automotive fuel cells can supply zero-emission peak power in the near-term

An increasingly decarbonized yet resilient power grid requires the corresponding build-out of dispatchable zero-emission resources to supply peak power. However, there is a recognized dearth of solutions which can serve multi-day peak demand events both cost-effectively and with near-term deployability. Here, we find that pairing low-cost automotive fuel cells with hydrogen storage in salt caverns can serve as a peaker plant at less than 500 US$/kW at present, a fraction of the cost of conventional fossil fuel-fired peakers. We demonstrate the peaker’s value for long duration storage by comparing it with pumped hydro and assessing its profitability within Texas’ energy-only market region. Although deployment of these peakers is constrained by the presence of salt caverns, we show that a number of sites in the United States and Europe are endowed with suitable salt formations, while utilizing hydrogen storage in pressurized containers could form a location-agnostic peak power solution.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Component-Level Bottom-Up Cost Model for Pumped Storage Hydropower

Pumped Storage Hydropower (PSH) is currently the largest source of utility-scale electricity storage in the U.S. and worldwide. As the accelerating deployment of variable renewable technologies creates opportunity and value for energy storage, it has become increasingly important to characterize PSH costs to understand how it competes. Site-specific considerations and limited cost data in the public domain make it difficult to estimate capital costs for potential new PSH sites. This report documents a spreadsheet-based tool that addresses this challenge and creates a component-level bottom-up cost model for PSH that can be made publicly available for widespread use. It uses detailed site-level physical characteristics and design specifications to calculate key performance and cost parameters for individual components and the project as a whole. The model was developed in consultation with HDR, Inc. and Small Hydro Consulting to ensure it aligns with industry expectations. It enables PSH cost exploration across a wide range of system assumptions and could be customized or extended for the needs of a variety of users.

cost model↗
DOE OSTI2022

Closed Loop Pumped Storage Hydropower Resource Assessment of the United States

The data includes a geospatial and spreadsheet representation of a resource analysis for closed loop pumped storage systems across the Continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. The data includes energy storage potential, water volume, distance from source to storage, hydraulic head, dollars per kilowatt of storage, and transmission spurline cost for each pumped storage hydropower (PHS) reservoir. Each reservoir represented in this dataset is represented on potential 10 hour storage duration PSH system comprised of two reservoirs. Units of measure are laid out in the dataset. Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) represents the bulk of the United States' current energy storage capacity: 23 gigawatts (GW) of the 24 GW national total (Denholm et al. 2021). This capacity was largely built between 1960 and 1990. PSH is a mature and proven method of energy storage with competitive round-trip efficiency and long life spans. These qualities make PSH a very attractive potential solution to energy storage needs, particularly for longer-duration storage (8 hours or more); such storage will be crucial to bridge gaps in electricity production as variable wind and solar production continue to comprise an ever-larger portion of the United States' energy portfolio. This study seeks to better understand the technical potential for PSH development in the United States by developing a national-scale resource assessment for closed-loop PSH. For more information, please refer to the Closed Loop Pumped Storage Hydropower Resource Assessment for the United States linked in the resources.

Array↗
DOE OSTI2023

New Tool Evaluates the Financial Viability of Pumped Storage Hydropower

The rapidly evolving electricity system with increasing variable renewable energy (VRE) resources provides both opportunities and challenges for the power sector. With the significant ramps and intermittency associated with VRE resources, the requirements and need for additional flexible resources increase. Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) provides flexibility to the electricity grid to replace fossil fuel plants, which are responsible for 25% of U.S. emissions. PSH projects support various aspects of power system operations, including flexibility, ramping capability, energy, ancillary service, black start, and others. The significant potential of hydropower requires understanding the different value drivers to the electricity system specific to the location of a project and then optimizing the plant for the different system values. Thus, determining the value of PSH projects and their many services and contributions to the electricity system can be a challenge for potential developers, system owners, regulators, policy makers, and consultants.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

An Assessment of Deploying Advanced Pumped Storage Hydropower Technology in U.S. Electricity Markets

Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) is a type of hydropower technology where energy can be stored and generated by moving water between two reservoirs of differing elevations. In addition to providing 97% of the total utility-scale hydropower storage in the United States, PSH plants have operational characteristics - such as high ramp rates and the ability to provide reserves - that contribute to greater flexibility and reliability of the power grid. New PSH technologies can provide additional flexibility beyond existing, fixed-speed units. With the emergence of high levels of variable renewable energy resources (e.g., wind and solar), energy storage is expected to be crucial to the reliability and reliance of the power grid in a low-carbon future. At diurnal and longer durations, PSH plants have some of the lowest costs per unit of energy, have been proven to be reliable and efficient, are not cycle-limited, and typically have long lives, often exceeding 50 years. The work presented here focuses on a new generation of PSH: ternary PSH and quaternary PSH (together referred to as T/Q-PSH). Given recent experience in Europe, grid operators in the United States and elsewhere are increasingly focusing their attention on T/Q-PSH as a proven, financeable technology that can offer utility-scale, long-duration, fast-acting energy storage capabilities and grid services. T/Q-PSH differs from conventional PSH in that it can provide fast-response ancillary services during both generating and pumping operations. This capability together with fast mode switching times are key attributes that make T/Q-PSH technologies attractive for managing and stabilizing electricity systems with high amounts of variable renewable energy.

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY,HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

On Secured Spinning Reserve Deployment of Energy-Limited Resources Against Contingencies

Featured with fast response abilities and high ramp rates, energy storage systems (ESS), such as pumped-storage hydropower (PSH) plants and battery storage systems (BSS), are considered as key first-responders to provide spinning reserve in response to system contingencies. However, ESSs are energy-limited resources, and their sustained spinning reserve deployment is restricted by the stored energy and available capacity. Indeed, the spinning reserve deployment against contingencies may deviate actual state-of-charge (SOC) from the scheduled value, inducing potential SOC boundary violations and non-dispatchability in later hours. This paper proposes the post-contingency operation model and the spinning reserve secure constraints to address these issues. The post-contingency operation model describes that spinning reserve from ESSs is promptly deployed when contingency occurs, and then gradually substituted by quick-start units when they are switched online. By leveraging this operation strategy, spinning reserve secure constraints in terms of SOC headrooms are adopted to guarantee its deplorability. Furthermore, a modified IEEE 118-bus system with multiple PSHs and BSSs is used to verify the proposed approach.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

A review of energy storage technologies for demand-side management in industrial facilities

Demand-side management (DSM) in industrial facilities provides an opportunity for substantial amounts of energy cost savings, since industrial facilities are the largest energy consuming sectors globally. In this work, energy storage (ES) technologies are critically reviewed and compared with industrial DSM in mind. ES technologies reviewed herein include lithium-ion battery energy storage (BES), sodium-sulfur BES, lead-acid BES, flow BES, supercapacitor ES, superconducting magnetic ES, thermal ES, flywheel ES, pumped hydro ES, and compressed air ES. The fundamentals of these energy storage technologies are reviewed in detail including recent developments, followed by case studies and extensive comparisons. These comparisons include, but are not limited to cost per cycle analyses, levelized cost of energy analyses, and comparisons between performance, transient, and cost characteristics. Here, some key properties analyzed include the rated power, power density, efficiency, lifetime, discharge time, capital costs, and O&M costs.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Techno-Economic Studies for Pumped Storage Hydropower (Final CRADA Report)

The research focused on estimating the value of various services and contributions that pumped storage hydropower (PSH) provides to the grid, especially in locations characterized by high penetration of variable renewable energy resources. Under this CRADA, the Participant provided the Contractors with non-proprietary data and information on the proposed Banner Mountain PSH project that describe project’s technoeconomic and environmental characteristics, planned market and business models, and other relevant information necessary to describe the proposed project and its planned operations. The Contractors analyzed this information and performed various technoeconomic studies to estimate the value of different services and contributions that PSH project could provide to the grid. The outcome of this CRADA was a detailed technoeconomic analysis conducted in a comprehensive cost–benefit and decision analysis framework.

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 OSTI2023

Data and Tools for Exploring New Pumped Storage Hydropower Deployment Opportunities

Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) is a flexible energy storage technology with the potential to facilitate variable renewable energy integration into the decarbonized electric grid of the future. NREL is developing new data and tools to help understand opportunities for new PSH deployment, including nationwide resource assessment data, a bottom-up component-level cost model, and a lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions calculator. These datasets lay the foundation for better-informed grid planning decisions about how PSH fits into a future portfolio of generation, transmission, and storage assets.

CEM↗
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 OSTI2026

Pilot Development Progress to Demonstrate Electric Thermal Energy Storage (ETES) Using Low-Cost Particles

The rapid growth of future energy demand increases the need to economically store electrical energy over durations up to several days in long-duration energy storage (LDES) applications. LDES can reduce the grid stress for improving the resilience of the grid. The integration of renewable power and storage has several significant and positive impacts including expanding the renewable energy portion of electricity generation, meeting peak-load demand, and coordinating supply and demand. Several energy storage approaches including mechanical, chemical and electrochemical methods are currently deployed or under development. However, LDES requirements pose unique challenges for scalability, energy capacity, and cost. Thermal energy storage (TES) has the ability to store a large capacity of energy with improved site flexibility compared to incumbent LDES technologies (i.e., pumped hydro) and has attracted significant interest. Our development in TES technology using solid particles as the storage medium has shown feasibility and potential in serving LDES purposes. Particle TES has various advantages over commercialized molten nitrate salt TES and has emerged as a promising storage technology originating from Generation 3 concentrating solar power (CSP) development. Stable, inexpensive silica sand produced in the Midwestern U.S. was identified as a suitable storage medium and has been validated through lab heating and cycling tests. We have successfully developed particle TES for bidirectional electric energy storage to broaden the applications for TES beyond CSP technologies and into standalone electric-thermal energy storage (ETES) systems. Key component designs and performance were verified with prototype testing and model simulations. The ETES system uses high-temperature, low-cost particle thermal energy storage coupled with a unique pressurized fluidized bed heat exchanger that supports a high-efficiency, air-Brayton combined power cycle. At times of low energy demand or high renewable production, an electric particle heater heats large quantities of solid particles to high temperatures in excess of 1100 degrees C. The particles are stored in internally insulated silos. At times of high electricity demand, the hot particles are gravity-fed through the heat exchanger where stored thermal energy is transferred to the power cycle working fluid to drive the gas turbine power generation system, thereby converting the thermal energy back into electricity for the grid. The cold particles leaving the heat exchanger are returned to the storage silos by a well-insulated particle conveyor. This ETES technology using particle TES can be sited anywhere and is predicted to be economic and efficient. Moreover, this ETES technology could be co-located with a retired coal or gas plant to leverage existing power generation and grid infrastructure. Our work has focused on the development of each of the key components (e.g., the electric particle heater, particle storage silos, and the particle-to-gas pressurized fluidized bed heat exchanger) through conceptual designs, prototype testing, and computational modeling. These developments demonstrate technological feasibility and are an important step towards the next phase of development of this promising LDES technology. This presentation will show the progress in developing a pilot demonstration of the ETES system on a commercially relevant scale.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Emerging Technologies Review: Pumped Storage Hydropower

The Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC) has tasked Pacific Northwest National Laboratory with investigating emerging technologies to inform the Air Force’s understanding of the technology and to guide key considerations for implementing technologies that are resilient and alternative sources to the traditional methods used in the Air Force today. This report explores pumped storage hydropower. Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) currently provides 93% of grid-scale storage capacity (MW) and 99% of electrical energy storage (MWh) in the United States. PSH exploits the potential energy that can be stored by pumping water to higher elevations or pressures to be dispatched when needed. In its simplest form, PSH uses energy to pump water to an upper reservoir for storage, then releases this water through a turbine and generator into a lower reservoir when needed for energy generation. This report provides a thorough technology description, technical considerations, siting considerations, economic/funding considerations associated with the technology. A Regulatory overview and risks associated with the technology are also included in the report.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗