Pumped hydro energy storage systems for a sustainable energy planning

Abstract

Pumped hydro storage (PHS) is a form of energy storage that uses potential energy, in this case water. It is an elderly system; however, it is still widely used nowadays, because it presents a mature technology and allows a high degree of autonomy and does not require consumables, nor cutting-edge technology, in the hands of a few countries. It presents an acceptable efficiency, around 75%. It has a long service life. Water is used in two reservoirs at different heights, which may or not exist previously, allowing co-use for other purposes, such as irrigation or population supply. It allows increasing integration of nonmanageable generation systems, such as wind and photovoltaic. It is an ecological method because it does not use artificial chemical products, which could be polluting, toxic, and dangerous, also coming from foreign countries. We are going to take a tour of five electrical systems in the Canary Islands, highlighting the options present in them; the procedure followed here can be extrapolated to cases in other places.