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LUDINGTON, Michigan (AP) — An asphalt and clay pond that spans a cliff overlooking Lake Michigan like a giant swimming pool, holding enough water to power 1.6 million households.
This is part of the Ludington Pumped Storage Facility, which uses simple technology: Water is transferred from a lower reservoir – in this case a lake – to an upper reservoir, then released downhill via large turbines.
Proponents call these systems “the world’s largest batteries” because they contain enormous amounts of potential energy to be used when needed for the power grid.
The hydropower industry thinks pumped storage is the best answer to a circulating question in the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy to address climate change: Where to get electricity when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.
“I wish we could make 10 more of these. I love them,” said Eric Gustad, Consumers Energy’s public relations manager, as they toured the Ludington facility.
But the Jackson, Michigan-based public agency has no such plans. Environmental and logistical challenges and billions of dollars in potential costs prompted Consumers to sell another possible site near the lake years ago. It is now upgrading the existing facility with co-owner DTE Energy.
“There’s no financial sense,” Gustad said, to build a new one. “I don’t think it will happen anytime soon unless we get some help from the state or federal government.”
NEUTRAL STACKED
The company’s decision illustrates the challenges faced by pumped storage in the United States, where these systems account for approximately 93% of utility-scale backup energy. Although analysts predict increased demand for power storage, the industry’s growth has been lagging for decades.
The country has 43 pumped storage facilities with a total capacity of 22 gigawatts, which is the output of many nuclear power plants. Yet only one small operation has been added since 1995 – and it is unknown how many of the more than 90 operations planned will be able to overcome the economic, regulatory and logistical hurdles that have caused long delays.
Three projects were licensed from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, but none were built. Developers of a long-planned Oregon facility expect work to begin in 2023. A Montana company that got a license five years ago needs a utility to operate the facility and purchase storage capacity before construction begins.
In contrast, more than 60 are being built around the world, mostly in Europe, India, China and Japan.
“The permitting process is insane,” said Malcolm Woolf, chairman of the National Hydropower Association, during a January hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, saying it covers too many agencies.
Spokesperson Celeste Miller said that although FERC allows new facilities and licenses existing facilities, other federal, state and tribal offices have roles. “Every project is unique. They all have various case-specific issues,” she said.
The industry says an investment tax credit similar to that provided by solar and wind will give pumped storage a fairer chance. President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan calls for a tax cut, but it got stuck in Congress.
Pump storage dates from the early 1930s. But most systems were built decades later to store excess electricity from nuclear power plants and release it as needed.
Storage facilities also act as a safety net in case of sudden power cuts. When a New England nuclear unit went offline in 2020, Woolf said, “The lights in Boston were not flickering because the two-pump storage station was providing backup power.”
Nuclear, coal and natural gas plants can operate continuously, while wind and solar cannot – so the reserve power market will likely grow. National Renewable Energy Laboratory models show that US storage capacity could increase fivefold by 2050.
“We’re going to bring hundreds of gigawatts of clean energy to the grid over the next few years, and we need to be able to use that energy wherever and whenever it’s needed,” Energy Minister Jennifer Granholm said last year.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Using the computer map, Australian National University engineers have identified more than 600,000 “potentially viable” pumped storage sites worldwide – 32,000 of which are in the US – that can store 100 times the energy needed to support a global renewable electricity network.
But the study did not examine whether the sites would meet environmental or cultural conservation standards or whether they were commercially viable. “Many or even most … may be inappropriate,” the website said.
Environmentalists are cold against pumped storage because reservoirs typically consist of hydroelectric dams that clog fishways, damage water quality and emit methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Also, most plants constantly draw water from rivers.
But recent designs envision “closed loop” systems that touch a surface or underground source and then repeatedly cycle that water between reservoirs. Water will be added only to remove evaporation or leaks.
The Hydropower Reform Coalition, which represents conservation groups, says it can support such projects “under very limited circumstances.”
Still, some are resisting, including the Goldendale Energy Storage Project in Washington state. It will form water pipes between two 60-acre (24.3-hectare) reservoirs on opposite sides of a hill.
According to Rye Development, which is spearheading the project, the facility can power nearly 500,000 homes for up to 12 hours. It requires a FERC license and is scheduled to be online in 2028.
State regulators have denied water quality clearance, requesting more information that the company has provided with a new app this spring. Environmental groups fear damage to wetlands and wildlife habitat, while tribes say the project will enter a sanctuary.
“What are we willing to sacrifice to bring this technology online?” said Bridget Moran, assistant manager of American Rivers.
The developers say the project will include cleaning up the contaminated lower reservoir area.
The US Department of Energy has launched a web-based tool to help developers find the best locations.
A recent Michigan Technological University study has identified hundreds of abandoned US mines that could house pumped storage, with upper reservoirs at or near the surface and lower reservoirs underground.
They are close enough to transmission and distribution infrastructure and solar and wind generation facilities, according to the report.
“All these holes in the ground are ready to go,” said study co-leader Roman Sidortsov, an energy policy associate professor.
But while some decommissioned mines are better for the environment, a project in Essex County, New York has stalled due to water pollution concerns.
COMPETITIVE FUTURE
As the stored energy market grows, new technologies emerge.
Texas-based Quidnet Energy has developed a pumped storage branch that forces water underground, traps it between layers of rock, and releases it to power turbines. The company announced a project with San Antonio’s municipal utility in March.
Swiss startup Energy Vault has designed a renewable energy-powered crane to lift and stack 35-tonne bricks. When energy is needed, the bricks are lowered by cables that turn a generator.
Currently, batteries are the leading competitor to pumped storage facilities, which can generate power between eight and 16 hours. Lithium-ion batteries typically last up to four hours, but the longer-lasting ones are on the job.
“Are we going to get to the point where an eight-hour battery is cheaper than a pumped storage facility? That’s the billion-dollar question,” said Paul Denholm, analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Pumped storage will remain a key player, but the cumbersome process of building new facilities is hindering expansion, said Jason Burwen, vice president of American Clean Power, a wind and solar trade association.
“Given how quickly the electricity industry is changing, it’s hard to find a solution 10 to 15 years from now,” he said.
Still, the 2016 Department of Energy report said the US network has the potential of 36 gigawatts of new pumped storage capacity.
General Manager Herbie Johnson said Atlanta-based Southern Co. is among companies that are upgrading their equipment and looking at potential new facilities to increase production at existing facilities.
“We don’t think pumped storage is the head of everything, but storage is a vital part of our future,” said Cameron Schilling, vice president of markets at the hydropower association. “You can’t decarbonize the system without it.”
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