New South Wales pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) atlas

Abstract

New South Wales has 200 times more PHES resources than that required to decarbonise the electricity supply within this region. Many of these sites have good colocation with infrastructure, such as transmission lines, and are also located within renewable energy hubs - such as Glen Innes. Interconnection with other regions, demand management and local storage are needed in order to ensure stable and affordable supply into the future. Pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) is the most mature and widely deployed electricity storage technology worldwide � 97% of globally installed grid storage is pumped hydro. Although Australia is known to be arid, there is ample water to allow the use of closed-cycle PHES systems to balance the electricity grid. We calculate the annual requirement to be less than 1% of South Australia's annual extraction from the Murray River. These sites were found using algorithms with defined search criteria within a geographic information system (GIS) platform. This platform was used to find detailed information, such as head, reservoir areas, and storage capacity. This list is not yet exhaustive. We are also in the process of developing a cost model that will determine the least cost option for the tunnelling between two reservoirs, and therefore the location of the lower reservoir.