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New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Unlocking pumped storage hydro for net zero Britain
31/7/2024
8 min read
Feature
The global energy network requires a very large build-out of long-duration energy storage (LDES) to reach net zero emissions. While pumped storage hydro (PSH) is a mature and reliable technology that can meet a large portion of this need, the business model it would be applied to is new. In the UK, the government is exploring a cap and floor scheme to unlock investment into PSH development. Its implementation could distort the market. Alterations of that scheme, which could overcome those problems, are proposed by Roderick MacLeod, Director, Glen Earrach Energy (GEE).
Achieving a net zero energy future requires a significant increase in long-duration electricity storage (LDES), in particular ‘LDES Long’, which provides storage durations between 16 and 32 hours. Estimates suggest that 20 GW of LDES Long capacity is needed, a 25-fold increase on the UK’s existing base.
Pumped storage hydro (PSH) – a proven, mature and reliable technology – offers a solution, and could fulfil nearly half of the nation’s LDES Long needs.
The Glen Earrach pumped hydro scheme in Scotland proposes to move water between two lochs, Loch Breac Dearga and Loch Ness, acting like a giant water battery storing excess wind power when it is plentiful and releasing it when the wind dies down. With a substantial height difference exceeding 480 metres between the upper and lower lochs, the facility will be capable of delivering up to 30 GWh of clean energy and up to 2,000 MW installed electrical generation capacity (subject to further investigation and feasibility works). Its output could surpass that of over 1,000 onshore wind turbines and deliver clean energy for over a million decarbonised homes.