Energy storage |
Study highlights Alaskan pumped storage potential
Researchers have explored the integration of pumped storage hydropower to store excess energy from renewable resources across Alaska
Above: A new study assessed the prospects for pumped storage hydropower in Alaska
References
The Prospects for Pumped Storage Hydropower in Alaska by Vladimir Koritarov, Rebecca Meadows, Jonghwan Kwon, Sean Esterly, Patrick Balducci, Donna Heimiller, Elise DeGeorge, Sherry Stout, Caitlyn Clark, Michael Ingram, Jal Desai and Evan Rosenlieb. July 2023. HydroWires US Department of Energy.
www.osti.gov/biblio/1987825/
SCIENTISTS FROM ARGONNE NATIONAL Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have revealed their findings from a new study called The Prospects for Pumped Storage Hydropower in Alaska, which identified 1800 potential sites suitable for development of closed loop systems with a total energy storage capacity of about 4TWh. Alaska has a unique electric power system that consists of two larger transmission systems (the Railbelt and Southeast Alaska) and more than 150 small, isolated ones serving remote communities. The Railbelt and Southeast Alaska systems are not connected to one another through transmission links and due to the large distances between cities in Alaska, most of the remote systems are expected to remain isolated for the foreseeable future, essentially continuing to operate as isolated microgrids. As this new report by Koritarov et al states, compared with the lower 48 US states, the cost of electricity in Alaska is high due to transportation costs for diesel fuel which is mostly used for electricity generation in remote communities, where the cost of electricity for some can be up to four times the cost in those served by the Railbelt system. This is why many remote Alaskan communities
want to see increased electricity generation from local renewable resources, such as wind, solar, and hydropower, where available. To support such developments energy storage will be needed to smooth variability and provide backup capacity and energy when wind or solar generation is scarce. Although the report acknowledges that different
28 | October 2023 |
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energy storage technologies are currently available, the scope of this study was limited to examination of whether pumped storage hydropower would be a viable energy storage option for Alaska. Historically, most pumped storage projects have been built with larger capacities of several hundred megawatts for economies of scale but in recent years, utilities have been investigating smaller designs as such projects can be integrated into hybrid projects that include smaller wind and solar installations. These smaller schemes are typically envisioned with a modular design that employs standardised and prefabricated components to reduce the overall costs, Koritarov et al explain.
“While the specific capital costs of larger PSH
projects are very competitive,” the authors go on to add, “the costs of smaller designs can be quite high. However, every PSH project is unique, and the capital costs are very site-specific.”
Study results The results show that pumped storage capacity is
part of the optimal capacity expansion solution in all analysed scenarios, with modelling selecting between 300MW and 600MW of new capacity in the different scenarios. One of the key findings of the Argonne Low-Carbon Electricity Analysis Framework that was used, is that the Railbelt system will need both short- and long-duration energy storage in the future. In addition to new pumped storage capacity, which was assumed to provide ten-hour energy storage, the optimal expansion solutions for all analysed scenarios
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