Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) currently accounts for 95% of all utility-scale energy storage in the United States. However, the development and deployment of new PSH projects is a large undertaking with high capital costs. This can seem daunting without the ability to calculate the value of PSH plants and their associated services.
That's why the Department of Energy's Water Power Technologies Office recently launched the Pumped Storage Hydropower Valuation Tool, a web-based tool that takes users through the steps of the valuation process presented in the Pumped Storage Valuation Guidebook. A team from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory was tasked with creating a platform that would aide users in going through the 15-step valuation process.
With the use of this tool, more developers will be able to accurately calculate the full value potential for a PSH project and the United States will hopefully see more PSH deployments. This tool is available free to the public and will, when used in concert with the guidebook, help stakeholders make decisions about funding, approving, and/or pursuing new or existing PSH project upgrades.
