The 100 year old Hydro Pumped Storage (HPS) uses coal to pump water overnight to the upper reservoir, ostensibly charging the 'battery' ready to discharge when the population wakes and switches on a few million kettles.
Pumped storage provides power On Demand, to cope with the fluctuating demand of people. When power is needed, the gates are opened, the water falls 100 metres or so and seconds later there is power to boil everyone's kettle.
Remember it was coal that pumped the water up overnight to provide hydro pumped storage the capability of boiling your kettle... and provide baseload.
But that was then, and now it's 'wind and solar are trying to replace coal' and it's an awkward fit. The solution is expected to come from the 600 billion dollar 'battery' race to market. Well, what sort of battery will do the awkward fit?
That's the 600 billion dollar question, but it will have to be renewable and provide baseload - or something close to it.
Specifically with Hydro Pumped Storage no matter how one phrases the question 'how to replace coal', the answer is always awkward because we cannot pump water with solar at night.
If solar can never replace the function of coal to pump the water up overnight then we must redefine the workings of pumped storage.
Water is now moving with predictability and this is the 'control of time' that makes all the difference.
Wind and solar energy can be stored by pumping water up hill.
Hydrobuoy configuration maintains baseload output even though renewables are intermittent.
24 Hour energy storage
24 Hour Baseload
Joining the 2 sides at the base completes the water loop. The configuration of hydro and buoyancy engines joined by an umbilical cord maintain Continuous Water Flow CWF.
Q. What would hydro pumped storage look like if it was designed to work with wind and solar instead of coal?
Hydro Pumped Storage (PS) is the 'battery' section of Hydro-electric Power Stations. As you know, water flows from the mountain to the sea, all we do is tap into the flow - we harness the falling water to generate hydro-electricity... but with PS it's a little different.
Pumped Storage is the little brother of hydro designed to do the 'On Demand' job. To supply power when needed, quickly. Pumped Storage uses a closed loop water system, using the same water over and over by using coal to pump water up at night (at low cost) ready to generate in the morning (at high return) to boil millions of kettles!
PS performs this all day and night to cover for peaks while coal delivers baseload. This is repeated every day - one complete cycle every 24 hours. (One-direction, 100 year old design).
As we transition away from coal, we need to rediscover pumped storage. No longer can coal be its fuel - transition must be made to wind and solar. This is a juggling act but nevertheless possible with a new design. After all pumped hydro was based around coal and wind and solar never existed back then, so it's an imperative if we are to transition to renewables that pumped storage be updated.
Bidirectional pumped storage is a good start, it has more control of time opening a window to solar, but it's not quite there yet...
By design, the 100 year pumped storage system only fills up at night using coal and solar cannot work at night.
Bidirectional removes the time constraints of one direction.
If we can match wind and solar with a renewable battery we can achieve a sustainable solution - where every link in the chain is renewable.
We believe Hydrobuoy Renewable Pumped Storage is that link.
Renewable Pumped Storage (RPS) uses gravity and buoyant energy, and a replenishing supply of air and water - stores intermittent wind and solar energy and delivers renewable baseload.
The Advantages of Renewable Pumped Storage
NO FEEDSTOCK No raw materials are required to fuel a machine or industrial process.
NO CO2 EMISSIONS NO DUST, METHANE, HEAVY METALS, SOX, NOX, DIOXIN, FURAN.
NO FRESHWATER REQUIRED to grow feedstock, steam generation, fuel washing, cooling, dispose waste.
NO TRANSPORTATION No energy is used in extracting and transporting fuels or feedstock, no waste to clean up.
NO DOWNSTREAM PROCESSES No toxic bi-product, no need to dispose of any waste materials.
RELIABLE 24 hours 7 days a week 365 days a year.
50 YEAR LIFESPAN Requires only maintenance.
Renewable Pumped Storage is continuously running (filling up and deploying) day and night 24 x 7.
Pumped Storage fills up overnight and deploys at peak times throughout the day.
