Research > Energy Storage > Modelling Pumped Hydro Energy Storage
The second key issue which I investigate during my PhD was simulating pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES) on the Irish energy system. Initially, I began this process by simulating wind farms and PHES together, similar to the methodology follwed by Allen et al. from University College Cork (UCC). However, I found that this methodology could not be used for analysing the entire Irish energy system, due to the limitied number of technologies being considered. To fully understand the benefits of large-scale PHES, all technologies within the Irish energy system needed to be considered.
Hence, I developed a model of the Irish energy system using the EnergyPLAN tool. After developing and testing this model, my research focused once again on the initial objective I established at the start of my PhD: analysing the potential for large-scale PHES in Ireland. To do this, various different capacities of wind energy (0% to 105% of the electricity demand) and pumped hydroelectic energy storage (0 MW to 7200 MW & 0 GWh to 500 GWh) were simulated on the Irish energy system. The primary objective in this study was to anlayse the maximum wind penetration feasible on the Irish energy-system with increasing amounts of PHES capacity available.
In summary, my research outlined how PHES could be operated to enable a 100% wind penetration on the Irish electric grid. However, the economic viability of PHES is very sensititive to some key economic assumptions which need to be made for the future: the fuel cost and interest rate. Hence, the economic viability is dependent on the intial economic assumptions for the analysis. A detailed explanation of this study and its results can be found in my PhD thesis.
