Energy storage | Life cycle analysis of pumped storage
A life cycle analysis of new-build closed-loop pumped storage hydro systems in the United States shows that, when the full impacts of materials and construction are taken into account, they have the lowest greenhouse gas emissions (CO2
equivalent per kWh) among energy storage technologies. The study was carried out by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)* and funded by DOE’s Water Power Technologies Office. The findings, says NREL, provide previously unknown insight into how closed-loop pumped storage hydropower – which is not connected to an outside body of water – compares to other grid-scale storage technologies.
The study compares pumped storage to four other technologies: compressed air (CAES); utility- scale lithium–ion batteries (LIBs); utility-scale lead-acid (PbAc) batteries; and vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs). Pumped-storage hydro and CAES are designed for long-duration storage, while batteries are intended to be used for a shorter time frame.
“Not all energy storage technologies provide the same services,” said Daniel Inman, one of the study’s authors. “We looked at compressed-air energy storage, which provides grid-scale energy storage and provides services like grid inertia and resilience. But pumped storage hydropower is about a quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions compared to compressed air.”
In examining pumped storage hydro, the researchers modelled their findings based on 39 preliminary designs from 35 proposed sites in the contiguous USA. The average closed-loop pumped storage hydro facility was assumed to have a power rating of 835 MW and a capacity of 2060 GWh of stored energy delivered annually. The base scenario also assumed the electricity would entirely come from renewables. The researchers calculated the GWP (global warming potential) attributed to 1 kWh of stored electricity delivered to the nearest grid substation connection point. They estimated the GWP for pumped storage hydropower ranges from the
Closed-loop pumped storage hydro (graphic by Al Hicks, NREL)
equivalent of 58 to 502 gCO2
/kWh. Hydropower
achieved the lowest GWP, followed by LIBs, VRFBs, CAES, and PbAc batteries.
* “Life cycle assessment of closed-loop pumped storage hydropower in the United States,” by Daniel Inman, Gregory Avery, Rebecca Hanes, Dylan Hettinger, and Garvin Heath, all with NREL’s Strategic Energy Analysis Center.
Mercia PR weighs up High-Density Hydro®
Mercia Power Response, a provider of flexible power response services to the UK grid, has signed an agreement with RheEnergise to explore the potential deployment of RheEnergise’s High-Density Hydro®
of getting 100 MW of HD Hydro in commercial operation by 2030 by using Mercia PR’s existing grid connections.
(HD Hydro)
concept for long-duration energy storage. The two companies’ initial focus will be the feasibility
Rather than using water, HD Hydro it uses a fluid which is 2½ times denser than water, and which can provide 2½ times the power for a given footprint when compared with conventional hydro, meaning
that HD Hydro can make use of hills rather than mountains, “opening up massive opportunities in the UK and around the world”, says RheEnergise. “We see enormous potential for HD Hydro deployment as a future low-carbon alternative to our existing gas-powered assets,” said Graham White, CEO at Mercia PR.
CSI to deliver 300 MW/1200 MWh to Papago
Canadian Solar Inc has announced that e-STORAGE, which is part of its majority-owned subsidiary CSI Solar, will deliver 300 MW/1200 MWh (1519 MWh DC nominal) of energy storage capacity to Recurrent Energy’s Papago Storage project in Arizona.
Recurrent Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar, is expected to begin
construction on Papago Storage in the third quarter of 2024.
Papago Storage will utilise e-STORAGE’s SolBank, a proprietary battery energy storage technology designed and manufactured for utility-scale applications. e-STORAGE will supply and commission the entire battery energy storage system, including integrated inverters
Support for sCO2
and controls. e-STORAGE will also offer O&M services and comprehensive performance guarantees under a 20-year long-term service agreement to the project.
As of July 2023, e-STORAGE had deployed more than 2.7 GWh of battery energy storage solutions across the USA, Canada, the UK, and China.
based energy storage
EarthEn, a Phoenix-based start-up, has been awarded first-of-its-kind funding by the Office of Electricity, US Department of Energy (DOE), along with US National Lab support via the Innovation Crossroads initiative.
Above: EarthEn’s sCO2-based energy storage: the basic idea
The two years of funding and support will enable EarthEn to significantly advance the commercialisation of its proposed long- duration energy storage technology making use of supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2
) based technology. The research will be carried out at 24 | September 2023|
www.modernpowersystems.com
the Knoxville, TN, campus of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
EarthEn’s technology is a hybrid thermo–
mechanical form of energy storage using sCO2 that is said to promise high efficiency and good flexibility for long-duration as well as shorter- duration energy storage.
EarthEn’s CEO Manas Pathak entered the Innovation Crossroads programme as one of only seven entrepreneurs selected this year for participation.
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