Pumped hydro opportunities in Australia in the thousands, researchers say
Mountains along Australia's eastern seaboard are brimming with opportunities for the construction of pumped hydro systems that could help secure the country's energy future, according to a survey conducted by the Australian National University (ANU).
A team of researchers is scouring the country for sites where pumped hydro systems could be constructed — and has already identified about 5,000 sites across Tasmania, Queensland, the ACT and surrounding parts of NSW.
South Australia was previously found to have 185 sites where viable systems could be built.
ANU Professor Andrew Blakers said the team was still searching in other states, and had already identified more sites than Australia could conceivably need.
"We have already found 35 times more sites than are required to support a 100 per cent Australian renewable electricity system," he said.
"Queensland has about 100 times as many sites as it needs, Tasmania has hundreds of times more sites than it needs, the Canberra district has 200 sites more than it needs.
"The best sites are on high hills with the possibility of another reservoir much lower down the hill, preferably 300-600 metres down the hill.
"Preferably the hill is very steep, so that the pipe or tunnel joining two the reservoirs is short."
'No shortage' of sites across country
Pumped hydro provides a simple and established way to store electricity for when it is needed, and acts as a necessary backup to renewable sources when wind and sunshine are in short supply.
When electricity is abundant water can be pumped to the top dam — and when energy is in short supply the water can be released, running through a turbine and back to the lower reservoir.
The proposed Snowy 2.0 expansion announced by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in March would see the Snowy Hydro scheme's pumping capabilities expanded.
Professor Blakers said up and down the east coast of Australia, the Great Dividing Range was full of suitable sites which had the added bonus of being close to established infrastructure.
"There is no shortage at all, anywhere in Australia, of really good pumped hydro sites to support very high penetration of wind and [solar cells]," he said.
"The smaller sites that we're talking about are still seven times larger than the Tesla battery that will go in to support the grid in South Australia, ranging up to much more than 100 times larger — pushing up to 1,000 times larger than the battery."
Cost of systems 'competitive'
The capital cost of installing new pumped hydro systems can be high, sparking concern from some experts the economics would not be feasible.
But Professor Blakers said low running costs would make the systems worthwhile once they were up and operating.
"This is very competitive with any other form of storage," he said.
"Interestingly the total cost of the whole system, including the storage, the power lines, and the wind and [solar cells] is going to be cheaper than simply maintaining the current system."