A Global Atlas of 616,000 Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Sites
Abstract
As the proportion of wind and solar photovoltaics (PV) in an electrical grid extends into the 50-100% range a combination of additional long-distance high voltage transmission, demand management and local storage is required for stability. Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) constitutes 97% of electricity storage worldwide because of its low cost compared with alternatives. We have conducted a comprehensive global search for PHES sites. We found 530,000 potentially feasible PHES sites with storage potential of about 22 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.