Residential Pump
Storage
Battery
Storage

Pump Storage Sector

Between 2007 and 2015, the total installed capacity of renewables electricity in Scotland has more than doubled.  Due to its intermittent nature, the rise in renewable generation has resulted in increased demand for flexible capacity to help meet energy balancing requirements for the national grid system.

Pumped storage hydro is considered by the Directors to be the most developed and largest capacity form of grid energy storage that currently exists.  This can help reduce renewable energy curtailment and therefore promote grid stability.

 

 

 

 

It is widely acknowledged that greater flexibility is required in the electricity system of Great Britain (GB) to decarbonise at acceptable cost to consumers. PSH is one of the best proven technologies available at scale to provide the required flexibility.

A new study in 2021 by independent researchers from Imperial College London has found that just 4.5GW of new long duration pumped hydro storage with 90GWh of storage could save up to £690m per year in energy system costs by 2050, as the UK transitions to a net-zero carbon emission system.

It can reduce system costs by providing a number of services to the GB net-zero emission energy system. These are:

  • Reduced wind curtailment by storing excess renewable production and discharging it when needed.
  • Provision of critical ancillary services needed for integrating a high penetration of renewable generation, particularly frequency response and operating reserves, while enhancing system inertia.
  • Reducing system emissions by displacing operation of some conventional (fossil-fuel based) mid-merit and peaking plant.
  • Supporting network congestion management and reducing the need for transmission network reinforcement between Scotland and England.

Benefits of Pump Storage Hydro

  • It is a clean energy resource

  • It does not benefit from or require other subsidies

  • It is a proven, reliable technology, available at large scale, with an asset life of 100+ years

  • It can provide firm capacity for longer periods than batteries or demand response

  • It can mitigate network constraint costs, and reduce the need for network investment

  • It can provide the full range of balancing services, including black start, inertia, frequency response, reserve and reactive

  • It helps solve the issue of intermittency in renewable energy generation

  • It will help reduce consumer’s bills

  • It will provide long-term energy security for the UK

  • It will off-set millions of tonnes of CO2 emissions each year
In June 2021 ILI group achieved planning consent for the Red John PSH project in the Scottish Highlands.

Click here to view the planning consent >

 

 

 

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