As discussed in numerous previous posts the world will need immense amounts of energy storage to transition to 100% renewables, or anywhere close to it, and the only technology that offers any chance of obtaining it is sea water pumped hydro (SWPH) storage. Here I consider the practical aspects of SWPH and conclude that there are only three places in the world where a combination of favorable shoreline topography and minimal impacts would allow any significant amount of SWPH to be developed – Chile (discussed here), California (discussed here) and, of all places, Croatia. For the rest of the world nuclear remains the only proven decarbonization technology. (Inset, Valhalla’s proposed SWPH project in Chile.)
In the last few weeks I have wandered through Google Earth looking for prime SWPH potential and have found that most of the world has none (I have not looked closely at Africa). The coastal topography in most places is too low and flat, and where it isn’t the valleys lack good dam sites, and/or are full of people, and/or the sites are too far from the sea. The sites that do exist are also often in scenic areas where significant public opposition may be expected whether there are any people there or not.
This point was forcibly brought home to me by Euan Mearn’s comments on Scottish Scientist’s Loch Ness Monster of Energy Storage guest post, which proposed a 6.8 TWh SWPH upper reservoir at Strath Dearn in the Scottish Highlands. Considered purely in terms of potential Strath Dearn is probably the best SWPH prospect in the UK, but if Euan’s reaction to the proposal is shared by others the chances it will ever get built are effectively zero:
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
