Enhanced-Pumped-Storage: Combining pumped-storage in a yearly storage cycle with dams in cascade in Brazil

The new frontier for hydropower electricity generation in Brazil, the Amazon region, cannot be used for energy storage as the construction of storage reservoirs would have deep environmental and social impacts, thus run-of-the-river dams have been built instead. If Brazil still wants to generate 80%...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energy (Oxford) 2014-12, Vol.78, p.513-523
Main Authors: Hunt, Julian David, Freitas, Marcos Aurélio Vasconcelos, Pereira Junior, Amaro Olímipio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amazon dams
Applied sciences
Cascades
Computational efficiency
Computing time
Dams
Electricity
Energy
Energy storage
Exact sciences and technology
Pumped-storage
Reservoirs
Watersheds
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Summary:The new frontier for hydropower electricity generation in Brazil, the Amazon region, cannot be used for energy storage as the construction of storage reservoirs would have deep environmental and social impacts, thus run-of-the-river dams have been built instead. If Brazil still wants to generate 80% of its electricity from hydropower, there is the need to increase the country's energy storage capacity so that the excess generation coming from the dams in the Amazon region during the wet period can be used during the dry period. This article presents four ways to increase the storage capacity of a watershed. The most innovative alternative involves a large-scale pumped-storage site combined with a series of hydropower dams in cascade, which could store energy by pumping water to a new reservoir during the wet period and generate energy by releasing the stored water during the dry period. Even though pumped storage schemes have an average efficiency of around 75%, it has been calculated that the combination of a pumped storage site and a series of hydroelectric dams in cascade can increase the overall storage efficiency up to 90% and double the storage capacity of a watershed. This scheme was called EPS (Enhanced-Pumped-Storage). •Increase energy storage to complement increased generation in the Amazon region.•Decentralize the energy storage capacity of Brazil to increase energy security.•Four techniques to increase the Brazilian energy storage capacity.•Enhanced-Pumped-Storage, new technique to store energy efficiently.
ISSN:0360-5442
DOI:10.1016/j.energy.2014.10.038