A GLOBAL ATLAS OF 616,000 PUMPED HYDRO ENERGY STORAGE SITES

摘要

As the proportion of wind and solar photovoltaics (PV) in an electrical grid extends into the 30-100% range a combination of additional long-distance high voltage transmission, demand management and storage is required for stability. Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) constitutes 99% of electrical energy storage worldwide because of its low cost compared with alternatives. We have conducted a comprehensive global search for prospective PHES sites. We found 616,000 potentially feasible PHES sites with storage potential of about 23 million Gigawatt-hours (GWh) by using geographic information system (GIS) analysis. This is around 100 times more than required to support a 100% global renewable electricity system.