Pumped storage hydro once propped up coal and nuclear power. Now it's essential for a clean, growing grid.
that harvest energy by pushing water underground and using the resulting pressure to spin a turbine—a technique that could be used in places as flat as the Texas plains.
New designs have also made pumped storage hydro more adaptable to different grid demands, says energy researcher Lenhart. “It’s always been very flexible in terms of when it can provide power, but it’s an even more diverse technology than it used to be.” Even with all this action, American development in the sector is nothing compared to other countries. China, for instance, currently has around 40,000 megawatts of pumped hydro capacity and 20,000 more in the works, including theWith all the innovation, pumped hydro still faces financial and political obstacles in the US, Smith says. The systems are expensive and can take up to a decade to build, making it hard to attract investment.
Copenhagen and Rye’s development along the Columbia River Gorge is expected to be built and operational in the next seven years. Rendering: Goldendale Energy Storage Project, which can be installed anywhere and provides the kind of short-duration backup the market currently values. Even as more of America’s grids are powered by wind and solar, Moreno says, “long-duration storage is much less likely to get built if you don’t have financing mechanisms that provide some certainty and revenue.
Yet Lenhart argues that at a certain level of renewable penetration—around 80 percent, depending on the mix of sources—the short-duration storage provided by batteries will be inadequate to support the grid. There are other emerging technologies that can provide energy storage over long durations, such as
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