scholarly journals An Exploratory Economic Analysis of Underground Pumped-Storage Hydro Power Plants in Abandoned Coal Mines

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinhard Madlener ◽  
Jan Martin Specht
Keyword(s):  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Coal Mines ◽  
Hydro Power ◽  
Abandoned Coal Mines ◽  
Hydro Power Plants ◽  
Pumped Storage

scholarly journals An Exploratory Economic Analysis of Underground Pumped-Storage Hydro Power Plants in Abandoned Deep Coal Mines

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 5634
Author(s):  
Reinhard Madlener ◽  
Jan Martin Specht
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Underground Mining ◽  
Coal Mines ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Hard Coal ◽  
Mountainous Area ◽  
Hydro Power ◽  
Hydro Power Plants ◽  
Pumped Storage

This study researches the concept of underground pumped-storage hydro power plants in closed-down underground hard coal mines in Germany. After a review on how this could be realized technically, an economic feasibility analysis is presented, with a particular focus on the costs for the underground storage reservoir. The analysis is performed for different lower (i.e., underground) reservoir sizes and temporal arbitrage potentials (peak/off-peak electricity price spreads), and cost uncertainty is dealt with by means of a Monte Carlo simulation for two distinct head heights. The findings regarding costs and acceptability are compared with those of a classic (on-surface) pumped-storage hydro power plant in a mountainous area. Based on a techno-economic evaluation we conclude that under favorable conditions the realization of underground pumped-storage hydro power (UPSHP) plants seems both technically feasible and economically reasonable. More specifically, an extension of a tubular system seems the most promising option. A UPSHP plant in a mineshaft is probably slightly more expensive than a conventional one, an outcome that depends strongly on the feasible head height. However, the significant reduction of the adverse impacts on the landscape and on local residents, as well as a potentially large number of feasible sites in flat terrain, could make UPSHPs an interesting option for the future energy transition, not just in Germany but worldwide at sites where underground mining is being abandoned.

scholarly journals Dimensioning Studies for Reversible Hydro Power Plants in Portuguese Islands

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-86
Author(s):  
Nuno Fonseca ◽  
André Madureira ◽  
João Peças Lopes ◽  
Manuel Matos
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Hydro Power ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
Hydro Power Plants ◽  
Pumped Storage ◽  
Energetic Level ◽  
Energy Surplus ◽  
The Ideal

This work is within the scope of set of consultancy studies made for Portuguese islands. It focuses on the integration of Pumped Storage Power in isolated islands. The paper starts to address several power systems circumstances about two Portuguese islands on the energetic level. For each of these islands, an independent examination of the conditions to install a reversible hydro power plant is accomplished. Therefore, the energy volume to be stored due to excess of renewable generation and the ideal power and number of the pumps and turbines to be installed were identified and evaluated for the sake of using the produced energy surplus as to be pumped and later generated. The paper enhances the importance of storing energy in the operation of isolated and small systems with considerable amount of intermittent power resources as well as the conditions for the viability of installing new exploitations of this kind.

scholarly journals Method for Unit Commitment of Thermal and Pumped-storage Hydro Power Plants

1994 ◽  
Vol 114 (12) ◽  
pp. 1220-1226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motonobu Yoshikawa ◽  
Hiroshi Nakajima ◽  
Yoshiyuki Kurebayashi ◽  
Toshiyuki Sawa ◽  
Mitsuo Kinoshita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Unit Commitment ◽  
Hydro Power ◽  
Hydro Power Plants ◽  
Pumped Storage
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