A Component-Level Bottom-Up Cost Model for Pumped Storage Hydropower

Technical Report · Tue Sep 19 04:00:00 EDT 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2004922· OSTI ID:2004922

Cohen, Stuart; Ramasamy, Vignesh; Inman, Danny

Pumped Storage Hydropower (PSH) is currently the largest source of utility-scale electricity storage in the U.S. and worldwide. As the accelerating deployment of variable renewable technologies creates opportunity and value for energy storage, it has become increasingly important to characterize PSH costs to understand how it competes. Site-specific considerations and limited cost data in the public domain make it difficult to estimate capital costs for potential new PSH sites. This report documents a spreadsheet-based tool that addresses this challenge and creates a component-level bottom-up cost model for PSH that can be made publicly available for widespread use. It uses detailed site-level physical characteristics and design specifications to calculate key performance and cost parameters for individual components and the project as a whole. The model was developed in consultation with HDR, Inc. and Small Hydro Consulting to ensure it aligns with industry expectations. It enables PSH cost exploration across a wide range of system assumptions and could be customized or extended for the needs of a variety of users.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Water Power Technologies Office
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 2004922
• Report Number(s): NREL/TP-6A40-84875; MainId:85648; UUID:ed7ac5d2-debe-48f4-ad43-0626414b97cd; MainAdminId:70674
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ENERGY STORAGE
HYDRO ENERGY
PHS
PSH
cost model
electricity
hydropower
pumped hydropower storage
pumped storage hydropower