Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potential energy of water, pumped from a lower elevation reservoir to a higher elevation. Low-cost surplus off-peak electric power is typically used to run the pumps. During periods of high electrical demand, the stored water is released through turbines to produce electric power. Although the losses of the pumping process makes the plant a net consumer of energy overall, the system increases revenue by selling more electricity during periods of peak demand, when electricity prices are highest.
Hydroelectricity is electricity produced from hydropower. In 2015, hydropower generated 16.6% of the world's total electricity and 70% of all renewable electricity, and was expected to increase by about 3.1% each year for the next 25 years.
The Tehri Dam is the highest dam in India and one of the highest in the world. It is a multi-purpose rock and earth-fill embankment dam on the Bhagirathi River near Tehri in Uttarakhand, India. It is the primary dam of the THDC India Ltd. and the Tehri hydroelectric complex. Phase 1 was completed in 2006. The Tehri Dam withholds a reservoir for irrigation, municipal water supply and the generation of 1,000 megawatts (1,300,000 hp) of hydroelectricity. The dam's 1,000 MW variable-speed pumped-storage scheme is currently under construction with expected commissioning in May 2018.
Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant is located near Kruonis, Lithuania, 34 km (21 mi) east of Kaunas. Its main purpose is to provide grid energy storage. It operates in conjunction with the Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant. During periods of low demand, usually at night, Kruonis PSHP raises water from the lower Kaunas reservoir to the upper one using cheap surplus energy. The station is designed to have an installed capacity of 1,600 MW but only four 225 MW generators are currently operational. With a fully filled upper reservoir the plant can generate 900 MW for about 12 hours.
The Alqueva Dam is an arch dam and the centrepiece of the Alqueva Multipurpose Project. It impounds the River Guadiana, on the border of Beja and Évora Districts in south of Portugal. The dam takes its name from the town of Alqueva to its right bank. It creates a large reservoir with an inter-annual regulation capacity from which water may be distributed throughout the region. The dam was completed in 2002 and its reservoir reached the full level, for the first time, in 2010. The 518.4-megawatt (695,200 hp) power station was commissioned in two stages, stage I in 2004 and stage II in 2013. The Alqueva Dam constitutes one of the largest dams and artificial lakes in Western Europe.
Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is a masonry dam across the Krishna river at Nagarjuna Sagar which straddles the border between Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh and Nalgonda district, Telangana. Constructed between 1955 and 1967, the dam created a water reservoir with gross storage capacity of 11.472 billion cubic metres. The dam is 590 feet (180 m) tall from its deepest foundation and 0.99 miles (1.6 km) long with 26 flood gates which are 42 feet (13 m) wide and 45 feet (14 m) tall.
The Temengor Dam or Temengor Hydro-Electric Project or Temengor Power Station is a dam in Gerik, Perak, Malaysia. It is located on Perak River about 200 km northeast of Ipoh. Construction of the dam impounded Temenggor Lake.
Renewable energy in Australia includes wind power, hydroelectricity, solar PV, heat pumps, geothermal, wave and solar thermal energy.
Kidston Dam also known as Copperfield Dam is a dam in Lyndhurst, Shire of Etheridge, Queensland, Australia. It is approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Hughenden and was built for the Kidston Gold Mine. The mine closed July 2001. The lake created by the dam has a capacity of 20,400 megalitres.
The harsh project is one of the largest irrigation projects in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is a multipurpose project. The water is mainly used to irrigate agricultural land in the drought-prone Marathwada Region region of the state. It also provides water for drinking and industrial usage to nearby towns and villages and to the municipalities and industrial areas of Aurangabad and Jalna district. The surrounding area of the dam has a garden and a bird sanctuary.
The Sestrimo Hydro Power Plant is an active hydro power project in the eastern Rila mountains near Sestrimo village, Bulgaria. Water is supplied by the Belmeken Dam to three turbines with a nominal output of around 80 MW which will deliver up to 240 MW of power. It is part of the Belmeken-Chaira-Sestrimo Hydropower Cascade. The same reservoir is used for pumped storage with the Chaira Hydro Power Plant.
Richard B. Russell Dam is a concrete-gravity and embankment dam located on the Savannah River at the border of South Carolina and Georgia, creating Richard B. Russell Lake. The dam was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1974 and 1985 for the purposes of flood control, hydroelectricity, recreation, additional stream flow regulation, water supply, and fish and wildlife management. The concrete structure of the dam spans 1,904 feet (580 m) and rises 210 feet (64 m) above the riverbed, housing a hydro-power plant with an installed 600 megawatts (800,000 hp) capacity. The Richard B. Russell Dam is the final large dam completed by the U.S. Army Corps in the Savannah River Basin and lies 30 miles downstream from the Hartwell Dam (1962) and 37 miles (60 km) upstream from the J. Strom Thurmond Dam (1954).
India is the 7th largest producer of hydroelectric power in the world. As of 30 April 2017, India's installed utility-scale hydroelectric capacity was 44,594 MW, or 13.5% of its total utility power generation capacity. Additional smaller hydroelectric power units with a total capacity of 4,380 MW have been installed. India's hydroelectric power potential is estimated at 148,700 MW at 60% load factor. In the fiscal year 2016-17, the total hydroelectric power generated in India was 122.31 TWh with an average capacity factor of 33%.
The Lam Takhong Dam is an embankment dam on the Lam Takhong River between Pak Chong District and Sikhio District in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand. The dam was originally constructed in 1974 for the purposes of irrigation and water supply but after 2002, its water storage also serves as the lower reservoir for the Lam Takhong pumped storage power plant, Thailand's first power plant of that type.
The Koteshwar Dam is a gravity dam on the Bhagirathi River, located 22 km (14 mi) downstream of the Tehri Dam in Tehri District, Uttarakhand, India. The dam is part of the Tehri Hydropower Complex and serves to regulate the Tehri Dam's tailrace for irrigation and create the lower reservoir of the Tehri Pumped Storage Power Station. In addition, the dam has a 400 MW run-of-the-river power station. The project was approved in 2000 and its first generator was commissioned on 27 March 2011, the second on 30 March 2011. The construction site had been inundated in September 2010 by floods. The diversion tunnel was later blocked heaving/collapse of the hill in December 2010. The spillway was commissioned in Jan,2011. The last two generators were made operational in March 2012.
The Panjiakou Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Luan River in Qianxi County, Hebei Province, China. The primary purpose of the dam is to provide water for the cities of Tianjin and Tangshan, located to the south. The dam also provides flood control and its power plant has an installed capacity of 420 MW which includes a 270 MW pumped storage power station.
The Upper Cisokan Pumped Storage Plant will be located 40 km (25 mi) west of Bandung in West Java, Indonesia and will occupy area in West Bandung Regency and Cianjur Regency. After receiving funding from the World Bank, construction on major works is expected to begin in 2015 and the first generator commissioned in 2019. It will have an installed capacity of 1,040 MW and will be Indonesia's first pumped-storage power plant. As a pumped-storage power plant, the project includes the creation of an upper and lower reservoir; the lower reservoir will be on the Upper Cisokan River a branch of Citarum River, while upper reservoir will be on the Cirumanis River, a branch of the Cisokan River.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is an independent agency of the Australian federal government, established in 2012 to manage Australia's renewable energy programs, with the objective of increasing supply and competitiveness of Australian renewable energy sources.
